The Deputy Minister of Correctional Services, Ms Loretta Jacobus, kept mum about her surprise visit to the troubled Sinthumule/Kutama maximum prison last week Friday.

Asked if she had visited the prison to assess the damage caused by the fire, when the facility was torched earlier this month, or to mediate on the wage dispute between the prison management and warders, Jacobus said that visiting correctional facilities is part of her responsibilities and she has been visiting all the prisons throughout the country. “We've just looked at what had happened and the investigations are still continuing,” she said.

The deputy minister was accompanied by the regional commissioner of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West, Mr Nndwakhulu Watson Tshivhase.

Jacobus' media liaison officer, Ms Sukthi Naidoo, said that the deputy minister's visit was a private visit. “We were not there to assess the damage caused by the fire and we were not interested in involving ourselves in the wage dispute, because negotiations with the relevant stakeholders are continuing,”she said.