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Prison warder fired for 'affair with an inmate'

The prisoner was in a different section at the same prison

A SENIOR prison officer has been fired after she was found guilty of having an affair with a prisoner at a Pretoria correctional centre.

The 35-year-old warder was a supervisor of a section at Baviaanspoort Correctional Centre at the time she was accused of being involved with a prisoner.

The prisoner was in a different section at the same prison.

The officer, who had served 12 years in the department, confirmed her expulsion from Baviaanspoort Correctional Centre and her anger at the outcome of her appeal.

She refused to be identified "for my and my family's sake, and for the fact that we are taking the matter further".

She declined to comment further and referred Sowetan to the department.

According to sources, the relationship had been going on since 2004, but the inmate only came to Baviaanspoort Correctional Centre last year from the Eastern Cape.

First the warder was accused of having breached security rules by smuggling in a R4,50 cellphone airtime voucher. Subsequent investigations revealed that the voucher was for public phones normally used by inmates.

The source added that, following the allegations, the inmate in question was transferred to Zonderwater Correctional Centre in Cullinan, near Pretoria, in June.

"The official was charged for visiting him in Zonderwater. She has a right to visit an imprisoned relative or friend," the source said.

The warder appeared before a disciplinary hearing in July, was found guilty on August 8 and filed an appeal on August 15.

Last Wednesday she was informed that her appeal was unsuccessful and was dismissed with immediate effect.

The department confirmed the warder's dismissal "after she was found guilty of having an affair with an offender, smuggling airtime to the offender and failing to adhere to and acknowledge limitations placed on social and intimate relationship with an offender".

This article was first published in the Sowetan newspaper on 24 October 2012

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