Prisons as nodes in organised crime
The Number gangs, the street gangs, and the channels between inside and outside.
Per IOL and EWN, Thobakgale described the 26s, 27s and 28s, whose origins he traced back more than a century to mining communities. Per IOL the 26s concentrate on money, the 27s on violence, and the 28s divide into a gold line that fights and a silver line that supports. Per eNCA, offenders arrive already tied to street gangs such as the Americans and the Hard Livings and keep those ties, so that correctional centres 'become strategic nodes within broader organised crime networks rather than isolated institutions'. Per IOL: 'While incarceration removes offenders from society and seeks to protect the public, it does not automatically extinguish criminal intent or criminal associations or criminal activity for that matter.'
How officials are turned
A cigarette first, then familiarity, then bribery, and extortion when bribery fails.
Per EWN: 'The process typically begins with minor requests and favors, for example, sharing a cigarette, and escalates to personal conversations designed to establish familiarity.' EWN reported that gangs infiltrate the department through bribery and turn to extortion where that fails, and that a gang known as the 'air force' specialises in escapes. Per IOL and MDNtv he said some gang structures include members whose role is to eliminate witnesses. No official was named.
The Rooigrond escape
An inmate's account that officers told him to leave or be killed, so he would stop naming them.
Edward Khomotso Madiba escaped from Rooigrond Maximum Correctional Centre near Mahikeng on 6 September 2026 and was rearrested three days later in Brits; eight officials have been suspended, per The Citizen and TimesLIVE. Thobakgale told the commission that Madiba, who had been naming officers in court proceedings over an earlier 2022 escape, said officers approached him with the words, per TimesLIVE, 'it's either you leave or we are going to kill you'. He said officers wrote a misleading incident report, and per EWN: 'The weakness of the system is that we focus on recapturing them. We don't focus on the reason for the escape.' The account is the inmate's, relayed by the commissioner, and untested. No officer has been named and the suspended officials are presumed innocent.
Thabo Bester's approaches
Repeated attempts to see the national commissioner alone, each referred to the formal process.
Per Briefly and The Citizen, Thobakgale said: 'I can give an example of inmate Thabo Bester, who has tried a number of times to get my attention alone', and that he always referred Bester to the complaints and requests process, with his head of security present. Justice Madlanga observed, per The Citizen, that 'Inmates that wield a lot of influence [and] have lots of money could target even the national commissioner.' There is no allegation that any approach succeeded.