SIPHO, FAROUK PRACTISED ISLAM IN PRISON – SA OFFICER

MBABANE –Head of Barberton Correctional Centre Anthony Mashabane was at pains yesterday trying to prove that Sipho Shongwe and the late Farouk Meyer interacted on several occasions in prison.

Meyer, according to evidence given previously by Crown witnesses; Mbuso Ncaza Nkosi and Siphiwe Tata Ngubane, was the owner of the guesthouse where the purported meeting to discuss the murder of businessman Victor Gamedze was held. Nkosi told the court that Shongwe and Meyer knew each other from prison.

Yesterday, Mashabane told the court that Shongwe and Meyer were incarcerated together at Pretoria Maximum Correctional Centre from 2000 to 2004. He said they were both arrested for murder, which they committed separately. Mashabane also told the court that Shongwe arrived at Pretoria Maximum Correctional Centre on November 14, 1998 as a trial-awaiting prisoner and on July 23, 2003, he was transferred to Barberton Correctional Centre after being convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Meyer, on the other hand, according to Mashabane, was transferred from Johannesburg Medium Correctional Centre to Pretoria Maximum Correctional Centre on December 18, 2000. He said Meyer was sentenced to 10 years for murder and he was transferred on August 14, 2004 to Johannesburg.

Mashabane said while Shongwe and Meyer were incarcerated at Pretoria Maximum Correctional Centre, they both allegedly practised the Islamic faith. He said the Correctional centre provided a range of activities for the rehabilitation of inmates. He said this was achieved by allowing prisoners to participate in groups in football matches, church services and family days, among others. He submitted that offenders had their meals at the communal dining hall and spent time together at the yard for exercises under the supervision of officers.

Prayer

Mashabane informed the court that since Meyer and Shongwe allegedly shared a religion, they were obviously seeing each other during prayers. He explained that offenders who practised the Islamic faith were required once a year to be provided with a cell to fast during Ramadan for a month. He submitted that Shongwe and Meyer were no exception.

He further told the court that offenders also interacted when they were taken to hospital since, due to lack of resources, they travelled in one vehicle to seek medical attention and when they had to go to court. Mashabane also submitted that prisoners also spent time together in a room while waiting for the requisite documents to be processed, when they had to leave the Correctional Centre. He alleged that Shongwe and Meyer were once transported to prison together and that, according to the head of Correctional Centre, meant they spent time together. Mashabane pointed out that in communal cells, inmates developed friendships since they shared a lot of things, such as ablutions and watched television together.

He also informed the court that inmates shared the sports field, and all offenders were allowed to march out and interact on weekends, and it did not matter in which cells they were kept. He described the system he used to obtain the information he was giving to the court about Shongwe and Meyer and their transfers from Pretoria Maximum Correctional Centre as an e-connection system, which he said was reliable for collecting information on prisoners. He said the system linked all prisons in South Africa. “I knew Shongwe when he was at Barberton. He was a soccer fanatic.

He managed a soccer team in prison. He took part in recreational committees and recreational activities. We would meet once or twice a month to discuss the activities of prisoners,” said Mashabane. He told the court that the e-connection system was operational and serviceable when he used it to obtain the information about Shongwe and Meyer. According to Mashabane, he accessed the system as part of his work. Mashabane was being led by Advocate Michael Hellens, who appears for the Crown with the assistance of Principal Crown Counsel Macebo Nxumalo and Absalom Makhanya.
The case continues today.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: