[Look at the revolving doors of our prison cells. Look at how this one criminal escaped from a Maximum Security prison. It was the first escape of its kind in this country ever. The “greased his body” story seems to now be proven nonsense and it seems his escape was really an INSIDE JOB! Jan]

JOHANNESBURG: One of South Africa™s most notorious criminals escaped from a high-security prison by greasing himself up with petroleum jelly and squeezing out of a tiny window, local news reports said yesterday.

Ananias Mathe, a Mozambican national awaiting trial on rape, murder and other charges, removed a bullet-proof window at Pretoria™s C-Max prison and pushed himself through the opening, which measured just 20cm by 60cm.

œWe are devastated … we will not sleep until we get him, police Captain Arnold Boonstra told Johannesburg™s Star newspaper, which said the escape was (152)˜Houdini™ style.

News reports said the police were not able to explain how Mathe freed himself from handcuffs or give other details of the escape, the first reported at the top security C-Max prison in its 36-year history.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour called for an investigation into management at the prison.

œI don™t think that any offender can just escape as easy as that from C-Max. I know C-Max, I™ve been there several times. There must be some collusion that took place, the SAPA news agency quoted Balfour as saying.

Mathe, a former Mozambican soldier with extensive military training, is the first person who has managed to escape from C-Max in 36 years.

He had been awaiting trial on 51 charges including murder, rape, and robbery.

Reports said Mathe broke out early on Sunday by breaking off two steel bars from his bed which he wedged on either side of the tiny window to help him slide his shoulders out of the window.

He then took another steel pipe from his bed and made a hook from it, tied his clothes and bed linen to it and used it to slide out of the cell and down the firewall.

The 28-year-old even found time to leave a final message, writing an obscenity on the side of the prison wall with grime he had collected on his way down.

Mathe is described by police as a œscrawny little guy who managed to evade police for months, and has used his military experience to evade capture.

When finally caught last month, it took two large officers 15 minutes to subdue him.

Balfour suggested staff could face lie detectors as part of an investigation.

While authorities were still reeling from the surprise escape, news also emerged that 15 prisoners who were awaiting trial for armed robbery, car hijacking, rape and burglary had escaped from holding cells in the province of Mpumalanga, close to the border with Mozambique.

œThey sawed through the bars of the windows. It seems as if they used hacksaws, said local police Superintendent Mtsholi Bhembe.

National police spokesman Ronnie Naidoo said that inmates frequently tried to smuggle in objects to use in escape attempts.

œSome of these prisoners are very ingenious. They (police) do a full body search but can never be 100% sure nothing is being smuggled in, he said.
Balfour said many staff members at prisons had been maimed and killed because prisoners had brought in dangerous weapons.

In the beginning of the month, six dangerous prisoners awaiting trial escaped from an Eastern Cape prison after breaking the pane of a small window and cutting the frame with a hacksaw.

In May two members of the extreme right-wing Boeremag group, accused of plotting a coup, escaped from Pretoria high court while under police supervision.

According to the police website, 1,908 prisoners escaped from police custody in 2005/2006, of which 568 were re-arrested.

Opposition parties claim the prison service is simply not equipped to deal with the vast volume of prisoners in one of the world™s most crime-ridden countries.

Launching a new report on the criminal justice system, the main opposition Democratic Alliance said yesterday that the prison regime œsimply cannot cope with the number of people awaiting trial. “ Agencies

Gulf Times Newspaper, 2006 (194)Â