Warder ‘wanted to sodomise me’

Herald Reporter
Source: The Herald Online

A ST ALBANS Prison inmate yesterday told how he repeatedly fought off the sexual advances of a warder and that he eventually phoned a toll-free number to report the harassment to correctional services after getting no response locally to his complaint.
The alleged sex pest, who is known to The Herald, now faces a departmental inquiry into claims of attempted sodomy.
He cannot be named unless he is criminally charged, pending the outcome of the hearing which was postponed yesterday to Tuesday.
He was initially suspended but has since been reinstated.
Confirming that an internal inquiry was pending, correctional services spokesman Mbuzeli Nogqala said from East London yesterday the officer concerned had been reinstated at the prison, but measures have been put in place to ensure that there is no contact between him and the complainant.
Mr Nogqala said the officer was previously based in Section D of the prison but has since been relocated to Section B.
A departmental hearing had been set down for yesterday but was postponed to Tuesday to allow the officer to arrange for representation by a union official.

The complainant, Simthandile Ngene, 20, of Noxolo township, related to The Herald his version of what had happened, adding that he did not mind being publicly identified.

Mr Ngene, who is currently on trial for armed robbery, said that in May this year he was approached by the officer concerned and taken to the hospital’s dressing-room in Section D of the prison.
“He asked me whether I loved him and I asked what did he mean.
“He again asked me to which I said yes I loved him as a person,” Mr Ngene said.
He claimed the officer then promised to buy him clothing, among other items, if he slept with him.
The officer then allegedly exposed himself to him during which a struggle ensued and, in his attempts to get away, he was assaulted.
Mr Ngene said he was then taken to another section of the prison where the officer made another attempt to sodomise him. He said he was again assaulted for rejecting the officer’s amorous advances.
Mr Ngene said he ran out of the room and reported the matter.
Days later, when it appeared nothing was coming of the matter, Mr Ngene said he phoned the correctional services offices in Durban on a toll-free listed number and reported the matter.
Soon after the phone call, officials at the local office contacted him informing him that the matter was receiving their attention, while reprimanding him for having contacted prison officials outside the prison.