Police are hunting for a suspect who escaped from a prison in King William’s Town.
Siyabonga Mlambo, 22, was one of five men from KwaZulu-Natal arrested in July last year in connection with a spate of hijackings in KWT.
They were arrested in Umzinto on the KZN South Coast while driving a VW Polo sedan allegedly taken at gunpoint last June.
Correctional services’ regional manager Nkosinathi Breakfast yesterday confirmed that Mlambo had escaped from custody on Sunday.
He said the circumstances around the jailbreak were still sketchy and an investigation was underway to establish how Mlambo escaped from the facility.
“There are no signs of any break-ins. We don’t know how and when he escaped.
“We just discovered in the afternoon of January 3 that he was not in his cell.
“We, however, believe his escape could be due to negligence on the part of our officials or he was assisted by one of our own.”
He said Mlambo was an awaiting-trial prisoner facing charges of armed robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Mlambo and his co-accused were due to appear at the King William’s Town Magistrate’s Court on January 20.
Mlambo and his co-accused were positively identified in a police line-up by three of their alleged victims.
The Daily Dispatch had earlier reported that a secretary at the DA offices at the Bhisho legislature had a near-death experience when she was accosted by two armed men as she drove into her residential complex on June 12.
They pointed firearms and took her silver grey VW Polo with her one-year-old daughter strapped into the back seat at the time.
The suspects however allowed her to remove the child before speeding off. Her vehicle was later found in Kokstad.
A few days later, another woman driving a similar VW Polo was hijacked by two men who had followed her home.
She had two children in the car and again the hijackers allowed her to take them out first.
Her vehicle was later discovered abandoned nearby.
Another woman was also hijacked at gunpoint, allegedly by the same gang, while driving a VW Polo GTI on a road leading to Ginsberg township, outside King William’s Town.
Prisoner’s escape from jail may have been inside job
Siyabonga Mlambo, 22, was one of five men from KwaZulu-Natal arrested in July last year in connection with a spate of hijackings in KWT.
They were arrested in Umzinto on the KZN South Coast while driving a VW Polo sedan allegedly taken at gunpoint last June.
Correctional services’ regional manager Nkosinathi Breakfast yesterday confirmed that Mlambo had escaped from custody on Sunday.
He said the circumstances around the jailbreak were still sketchy and an investigation was underway to establish how Mlambo escaped from the facility.
“There are no signs of any break-ins. We don’t know how and when he escaped.
“We just discovered in the afternoon of January 3 that he was not in his cell.
“We, however, believe his escape could be due to negligence on the part of our officials or he was assisted by one of our own.”
He said Mlambo was an awaiting-trial prisoner facing charges of armed robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Mlambo and his co-accused were due to appear at the King William’s Town Magistrate’s Court on January 20.
Mlambo and his co-accused were positively identified in a police line-up by three of their alleged victims.
The Daily Dispatch had earlier reported that a secretary at the DA offices at the Bhisho legislature had a near-death experience when she was accosted by two armed men as she drove into her residential complex on June 12.
They pointed firearms and took her silver grey VW Polo with her one-year-old daughter strapped into the back seat at the time.
The suspects however allowed her to remove the child before speeding off. Her vehicle was later found in Kokstad.
A few days later, another woman driving a similar VW Polo was hijacked by two men who had followed her home.
She had two children in the car and again the hijackers allowed her to take them out first.
Her vehicle was later discovered abandoned nearby.
Another woman was also hijacked at gunpoint, allegedly by the same gang, while driving a VW Polo GTI on a road leading to Ginsberg township, outside King William’s Town.
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