Pretoria – The Department of Justice and Correctional Services on Tuesday announced that it has given notice to cancel the G4S contract to manage the Mangaung Correctional centre from where Thabo Bester escaped.
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The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said it has decided to terminate its concession contract with the Bloemfontein Correctional Services (BCC), which is part-owned by G4S.
In 1998, G4S South Africa became a minority shareholder in Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts (BCC) – the concessionaire company responsible for the management of the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
At the time it was anticipated that G4S South Africa’s investment will end in 2026, when BCC’s contract expires.
On Tuesday, the department said: “In line with the concession agreement, a termination notice period of 90 days has been given to BCC and thereafter, the contract will cease to operate”.
The notice of termination follows the announcement on 20 April 2023 by the DCS that it had referred its contract with BCC for a legal opinion.
“It has been deemed that the BCC is neither competent nor suitable to continue with the concession contract,” the department said.
BCC is contracted to operate the Mangaung Correctional Centre, a public private partnership facility.
“DCS will immediately resume with an internal exercise for the takeover process. The contract does lay down a procedure to be followed in this regard.”
Bester, who was rearrested in Tanzania last month, remains behind bars at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional facility in Tshwane.
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