S.African car thieves drive into Mandela's ex-jail Pollsmoor prison

Pollsmoor prison in South Africa. Suspected car thieves fled into Pollsmoor prison on May 7, 2018 where they were arrested. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison holds some of the country's most notorious criminals and gangs.
  • Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor in 1982 after serving 18 years at Robben Island.

Suspected car thieves fleeing police in South Africa drove straight into the grounds of a notorious maximum-security prison that once held Nelson Mandela, police said Monday.

A police patrol spotted the car on Sunday as it was being driven in the Tokai suburb of Cape Town after having been reported stolen from the affluent area of Hout Bay.

As police gave chase the four "fled into Pollsmoor prison", city police spokesman Wayne Dyason told AFP.

ARRESTED

The suspects — whom the local media have dubbed the country's "dumbest criminals" — were arrested in the prison grounds.

According to a prison official, the men accessed the complex through an entrance that leads to the wardens' residential area, and then abandoned the car before heading off on foot.

"They entered through the gate where the officers live, and that is where they were caught," Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo told AFP.

Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison holds some of the country's most notorious criminals and gangs.

THEFT
Former president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor in 1982 after serving 18 years at Robben Island.

He was transferred to Victor Verster prison in 1988, before being released in 1990.

Last year, an average 146 cars or motorcycles were stolen across South Africa each day, according to police figures.