Richard Poulter, Tokai
Every morning starting from 6.30am the convoys of Pollsmoor trucks and vans blaze their way through Tokai and along the M3 with sirens blaring away weaving in and out of the backed up traffic.
Why is it necessary to make such an awful noise? Why do they have to take the prisoners into Cape Town or elsewhere anyway?
Why can’t the judges and their teams not go to Pollsmoor rather than the other way round?
Apart from the noise and the unnecessary reckless driving what a waste of fuel and manpower.
I would have thought that if any hijack or rescue attempt
was to take place, the Pollsmoor vehicles certainly advertise their presence. And with all the traffic backed up, escapees’ vehicles are not going to get away very fast or far anyway.
Cape Town has banned blue light brigades, thank goodness. Why can’t they do the same for these prison vehicles, which, in my opinion, are about as unnecessary as some politician in his taxpayer-sponsored convoy.
Lewies Davids, spokesperson for Pollsmoor, responds: The blue-light branded vehicles transporting awaiting-trial prisoners belong to the SAPS. They are responsible for transporting offenders to and from courts.
None of the vehicles of Pollsmoor or the Department of Correctional Services has sirens installed.
And regarding what happened to the plan to hold court cases via audio video remand (AVR), this system only serves four courts currently, Cape Town, Mitchell’s Plain, Khayelitsha and Athlone.
The AVR system is not connected with Cape Town High Court.
The AVR system is not used for full court hearings or bail applications.
The AVR system is only used for case postponements.
Pollsmoor currently serves more than 30 courts in the Cape Peninsula.
