[full]A new scandal has landed two of the Waterkloof Four back in prison just days into their parole after video footage of them partying in a prison cell was released.
Manelisi Wolela, the Department of Correctional Services spokesman, said that Frikkie du Preez and Christoff Becker were arrested yesterday after a video published by the Rapport newspaper showed them apparently partying and drinking in their cell at the Kgosi Mampuru prison, in Pretoria.
Wolela said the Gauteng regional commissioner of Correctional Services had launched an investigation. He said the two parolees, officials and the managers on duty at the time the video was shot would be grilled.
“Two of the Waterkloof Four, allegedly responsible for smuggling alcohol and having a party inside the [prison], have been rearrested while an investigation is under way.
“The department takes very seriously the allegations about the smuggling of alcohol, having a party and covering the party with illegally possessed cameras or cellphones,” he said.
Becker, Du Preez, Reinach Tiedt and Gert van Schalkwyk were released on parole on Tuesday after serving half of their 12-year jail terms for killing a homeless man in Pretoria in 2001. Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk had been released in December 2011 after an administrative bungle that led to the sacking of three senior prison officials. They returned to prison in September after the Pretoria High Court overturned a lower court’s decision to convert their custodial sentences to correctional supervision.[/full]