Correctional Services boss Thobakgale says guards ‘helped’ Madiba escape twice - IOL
Correctional Services head, Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale, explained to the Madlanga Commission how prison guards helped Edward Madiba to escape.
Correctional Services commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale said that prison guards allegedly helped Edward Khomotso Madiba escape from custody after intimidating him to prevent him from naming them in court over his previous escape.
Testifying at the Madlanga Commission on Thursday, Thobakgale said Madiba told him and the department’s head of security that officers involved in his initial 2022 escape had approached and warned him to leave.
Madiba was rearrested on September 9, 2026, after escaping from the Rooigrond Maximum Correctional Centre in Mahikeng.
This was the second capture since 2022.
Edward Khomotso Madiba, who escaped from a North West maximum-security prison on Sunday while serving a 20-year sentence, has been rearrested in Brits.
According to Thobakgale, Madiba was preparing to identify correctional officers allegedly involved in the 2022 breakout when the threats were made.
“He was going through court processes for the escape of 2022, he was starting to move towards mentioning names of officers and that's when they then approached him to say either you leave or we are going to kill you,” Thobakgale told the commission.
He said Madiba alleged that the officers subsequently assisted him in escaping, effectively preventing him from naming them during the court proceedings.
“That's how then he's saying they assisted him to escape, so that they break that line of him mentioning their names during court proceedings,” Thobakgale said.
The allegations place the conduct of correctional officials at the centre of questions surrounding both escapes.
At the time, Madiba was serving a 20-year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, and parole violations.
After his latest capture, he was reportedly transferred to the Kgosi Mampuru II C-Max facility in Pretoria.
