Eastern Cape Inmate In Trouble After Going Viral Online for Having a Cellphone and Altering Prison Uniform

• The Department of Correctional Services has caught wind of an inmate who has been making the rounds on social media
• Images of the prisoner dressed in pimped-out prison uniform and holding a cellphone recently went viral
• South Africans believe that prison officials must also be held accountable for the prisoner's behaviour, while some noted he is too handsome to be locked up

GQEBERHA - The Department of Correctional Services has launched an investigation into an inmate who went viral on social media. The prisoner has now been moved to the special care unit while authorities probe the matter.

Social media went abuzz after images of an inmate at St Albans Correctional facility in the Eastern Cape posing with a cellphone were shared online. The prisoner was sticking poses inside his cell while dressed in an altered prison uniform.

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According to SABC News, the inmate's cellphone has since been confiscated as cellphones are viewed as contraband in correctional facilities.

Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo added that the prisoner also faces charges for contravening the Correctional Services' policies by altering his prison uniform.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Nxumalo stated the DCS is outraged by this behaviour, and strong action and consequences will be taken against the inmate.

Here's what South Africans had to say about the prisoner:

@Beachdays3 said:

"3 meals, a roof over his head paid by the taxpayer with added benefits of cellphones etc. Yep that's SA for you, not much different from the thieves in blue lights without bars."

@mtungua_kay said:

"Did it fly inside his cell? Someone must account."

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@WineLeroy said:

"Not the first time."

@johannes_hika said:

"The department should be worried about its employees, phones don't fly into prisons by themselves."

@homebrewed88 said:

"How many phones are confiscated because he has one in hand, then the one taking the picture."

@buju_whyz said:

"Which one was confiscated, the one taking pictures or the one he is holding. Please! We were not born yesterday."

Prisoners producing own food saves Correction Services Department millions

Briefly News previously reported that the Department of Correctional Services could end up saving R163 million in the next year through inmates producing their own food.

The cost of meat and vegetables has been significantly reduced. Minister of Correctional Services Ronald Lamola told parliament on Thursday, 19 May, that prisoners started producing their own food when government resources were constrained.

He said the self-sufficiency strategic framework has an element of restorative justice. Lamola said from 48 prisons, eight of them no longer needed to buy cabbage, spinach, beetroot, and onions.

Source: Briefly News