Mayor Calls for Signal-Blocking of Pollsmoor Cellphones

Cape Town – Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has urged the national government to roll out cellphone signal-blocking technology at Pollsmoor Prison, warning that inmates are using mobile phones to orchestrate extortion and other crimes across the city.

Hill-Lewis confirmed that he has written to Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald, offering the City’s full support to pilot sophisticated signal-blocking measures at the prison.

“The City has received various reports that crime and extortion activity is being coordinated by phone from within Pollsmoor,” he said. “On a recent roads project inspection in Bishop Lavis, I was informed that the contractor had abandoned the site due to extortion threats made by an underworld figure inside Pollsmoor.

“This shows we must do more than just jail criminals. We have to prevent their ability to coordinate crime from within prisons. We have to flip the switch on cellphones in prisons.”

The Mayor’s call comes as the Correctional Services Ministry intensifies efforts to root out contraband inside facilities. Minister Groenewald has publicly committed to ramping up raids on smuggled cellphones and other illicit items, while considering new technology to jam signals and intercept inmate communications.

City’s Offer of Support

Hill-Lewis said the City is ready to assist with:

• Intelligence-sharing to identify patterns of criminal activity linked to Pollsmoor.
• Technical and logistical support to install signal-blocking technology.
• Public awareness campaigns to rally community backing for the initiative.

Concerns Over Parole System

The City has also raised alarm over what it calls a “broken parole system” that enables repeat offenders to terrorise communities.

“City officers regularly encounter parolees committing repeat offences,” said Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security. “It is also common for arrested suspects to return to the streets due to the criminal justice system’s inability to secure convictions.

“We continue to call for reforms to the early parole system, and for investigative powers to be devolved to municipal officers to help SAPS secure more convictions – especially in gang, gun, drug and extortion cases.”

With extortion rackets increasingly undermining development projects and public safety, the City hopes that signal-blocking technology at Pollsmoor could be a turning point in the fight against organised crime in Cape Town.

Isishwankathelo ngesiXhosa:

USODOLOPHU UHLABA IKHWELO LOKUBA KUTHINTELWE UMQONDISO WEESELULA ZASEPOLLSMOOR

Usodolophu waseKapa, uGeordin Hill-Lewis, ubizele kuRhulumente wesizwe ukuba kufakwe itekhnoloji yokuthintela imiqondiso yee-cellphone ePollsmoor. Oku kungenxa yokuba izigebenga ziqhubeka nokulawula imisebenzi yolwaphulo-mthetho zisemajele ngoomnxeba.

Uthi iSixeko silungele ukunceda ngokwabelana ngolwazi, ukuxhasa ngobugcisa bokufaka esi sixhobo, kwakunye nokuvusa uluntu ukuba luxhase le nyathelo. U-Alderman JP Smith naye uthe inkqubo yeparole ephukileyo ibangela ukuba izaphuli-mthetho ziphinde zibuyele ezitalatweni, nto leyo eqhubeka nokoyikisa uluntu.