Johannesburg -
A Gauteng family are waiting for answers from the Groenpunt Correctional Centre after their 40-year-old brother died while in custody last week.
Daniel Khethisi is the second prisoner at Groenpunt to be reported dead last week.
Another prisoner, Kgothatso Mokhele, 22, died after he was involved in a fight with prison warders.
Mokhele was part of a gang of four prisoners who attacked a warder. He died soon after other warders went to their colleague’s aid and attacked him.
Three prisoners suffered serious injuries during the scuffle, and Mokhele died two hours after his admission to the prison’s medical facility on Wednesday.
The other two prisoners were still in a critical condition.
Khethisi’s death, however, took place away from the public eye.
The family said they had had no contact with Khethisi. Their last visit to him was in April 2008.
They had stopped visiting him soon after his brother Albert was arrested at the prison and accused of attempting to murder a female warder and robbing her of R150 000 in cash.
The charges were dropped six months later after the police failed to link Albert to the alleged crime.
The family said Albert never set foot again at the prison until a warder came to their house on January 5 this year and alerted them about the attack on their brother in prison by other warders.
Immediately, a relative, Petros Shomane, went to Sebokeng Hospital, where he found Daniel in bed, badly bruised.
On January 7, Albert visited Daniel as well. He said his face was bruised and he had marks on his body, possibly caused by a baton.
“As I continued inspecting my brother, a prison warder came and gave me three minutes to leave that ward.”
Albert said another prisoner wanted to speak to him, but the warder had rudely prevented him from doing so.
The man had then sang in seSotho: “Ho lokile, ha o ka ba wa nrohaka. Ho tshwana feela, ke bona ba mo qetileng (It’s okay, even if you can swear at me. It means nothing, you finished him off).”
On January 8, when the dead man’s aunt, Constance Mofokeng, visited, she had found prison officials booking Daniel out of the hospital. This was the last time the Khethisi family saw Daniel alive.
Albert said another family member, Solly Maile, arrived at their house on January 15 and informed them that they had received a call indicating that Daniel had died earlier that day.
Albert said he had been able to go to prison only on the Sunday.
“When I arrived there… (the head of prison) said Daniel had died on January 16. He also offered to provide us with a coffin and a grave, but insisted that only two family members were allowed at the funeral. I then declined the offer,” Albert said.
On Monday, Daniel’s body had still not been released to the family.
However, the prison authorities’ version differs from that of the family.
Correctional Services deputy head of prison for Free State and Northern Cape Grace Molatedi said Daniel was admitted to Sebokeng Hospital on January 8 and discharged seven days later.
Molatedi said the family were informed about his hospitalisation.
Molatedi refused to disclose the cause of death, but said Daniel was bedridden at Sebokeng and at their medical facility.
“The allegations made by the family with regard to battering do not hold any truth… The cause of death was natural, as the inmate had been sick for a long time.”
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The Star