At least 4,000 inmates are being evacuated from the Pollsmoor Detention facility near Cape Town after at least one prisoner died from a disease related to rat infestation at the facility.
Manelisi Wolela, spokesperson for the department of correctional services, confirmed to Al Jazeera on Saturday that around 4,100 detainees were being evacuated to prevent a massive outbreak of a disease, blamed on the inmates’ close proximity to rats.
“We have been fumigating the place, but as of now, we are moving the prisoners to other locations, and it will take some days to complete,” Wolela said.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said the infection, known as leptospirosis, is carried in rat urine and conditions at the prison were likely to facilitate more infections.
The latest developments come as the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) condemned the continued “inhumane conditions” at the Pollsmoor prison, describing them as a matter of national concern.
