Documents that were recently provided to WJP contain shocking allegations that inmates were tortured before they died

More worryingly, South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has said it is aware that G4S’ record keeping of deaths in custody is not up to standard and that it might be covering up deaths through torture.

The latest revelations come almost two years after the Wits Justice Project uncovered evidence that G4S was allegedly giving forced injections and electric shock treatment to subdue unruly inmates. As a result of the alleged abuses, 43 prisoners lodged legal claims against G4S through the British law firm Leigh Day.

Around the same time, the government took over the running of the prison from G4S, saying it had “lost effective control” in the wake of a series of stabbings, riots, strikes and a hostage taking.

Sbu Ndebele, the then minister of Correctional Services, promised to “leave no stone unturned” after the allegations of abuses.

The DCS investigation into the abuse claims which raised a series of suspicious deaths including Mr Nelani’s was due to be finalised within a month but nearly two years later, it has not be completed or published.

A year ago, the Department handed back the prison to G4S.

In 2010, a magistrate’s inquest into Isaac Nelani’s death revealed some stark facts. It started with the witness statements of the warders on duty that day. Sello Johannes Moleleke, the supervisor, said that on 18 May 2005 around 5 pm, he checked up on all inmates in Broadway by looking through the feeding hole.

When he came to Mr Nelani’s cell door, he saw that he was sitting next to the door “with a piece of clothing around his neck”.

The Wits Justice Project uncovered evidence that G4S was allegedly giving forced injections and electric shock treatment to subdue unruly inmatesMr Moleleke’s colleague Vuyo David then called the prison hospital and two nurses were dispatched. When they arrived at the scene, they tried to resuscitate Mr Nelani, but to no avail. He was pronounced dead.

Robert Gene Brook, the state pathologist, qualified the manner of death as “undetermined, but suspicious”.

What raised his suspicion was the bruising on Mr Nelani’s heart. Bruising of the heart happens when there is huge impact, like a severe assault, a car accident, a fall to the ground from a great height, or when Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) takes place.

A nurse did perform CPR on Mr Nelani, but the location of the bruising on the heart suggests it was not caused by the resuscitation attempt, the pathologist said.

“The distribution of the bruising only on the posterior of the heart, adjacent the spine, lead me to suspect that blunt force had been applied,” he wrote in his report.

So what did happen on 18 May 2005 in Broadway? Four eyewitnesses told WJP a chilling tale of a what they alleged to be a deliberate cover-up.

Inmate Papi Maruping was locked in a cell on the upper level of Broadway, facing the cell where the warders brought Mr Nelani which is commonly referred to as the “Dark Room”.

He said the flap on the feeding hatches in the cell door was kept open, so he and other inmates could see out through a slit.

According to Mr Maruping, six members of the EST (the Emergency Security Team also known as the Ninjas), armed with electrically charged shields, came to the unit around one o clock in the afternoon after Mr Nelani started complaining about being cold.

“They ordered him to strip and to take a cold shower, then he had to get dressed again and then they took him to the dark room,” he said.

The dark room was a windowless cell with thick walls that ensured it was a sound proof space. This is where an EST member, interviewed by BBC television on 28 Ocotber 2013, admitted to taking inmates to torture them.

“Yeah we stripped them naked and we throw with water so the electricity can work nicely,” he said. “I will shock him until he tells the truth that I want even if it’s a lie.”

Around the same time, a further 13 dismissed EST members confirmed to the WJP that the dark room was used for this purpose.

“The EST guys surrounded him outside the cell, cuffed him and started to shock him with their shields,” he said.

“They kicked him too. Nelani was bleeding from the mouth and screaming, we could all hear him.”

According to Mr Maruping, Mr Nelani was lying face down on the floor of the cell when he saw a doctor enter.

“A doctor went into the cell and injected Nelani in his neck,” he said. “Then they closed the cell door.”

Mxolisi Ndaba was also being held on the upper floor and followed what happened. “I heard Nelani scream, as the ninjas electroshocked him,” he said.

Ouba Mabalane was in the cell next to Mr Ndaba. “They tortured him to death. I could hear him screaming,” he said. “After he died, EST members hung up clothes to make it look like he committed suicide.”

Mr Maruping witnessed what might be the most chilling part of this tragic tale. “An inmate who found Nelani opened the door to the cell and started shaking him,” he said.

“Nelani was lying face down, with his hands cuffed behind his back. The inmate notified Maluleke who then made a phone call.

“Not much later, several senior management people entered the section. They went into the interview room in the corner of Broadway.

“When they came out, one of them was wearing rubber gloves and three men entered the cell and when they came out, I could see Nelani hanging from the door. His handcuffs had been removed.”

Inmate Tebogo Bereng also left Mangaung prison in a body bag, following an altercation about a blanket on 31 March, 2013.

His cell mate at the time, Lawrence Sehhonka, wrote to WJP that Bereng had wanted to change his “inner duvet”, but the supervisor had refused.

A verbal altercation broke out and the EST was called. “Supervisor called the EST to come and collect Tebogo Bereng to Broadway. Tebogo was shocked by the ninjas at that time,” Mr Sehonka wrote.

Inmate Hlello Mbatyazwa saw Mr Bereng arrive at the prison hospital. “Four or five Ninjas electroshocked him in the corridor at the entrance of the hospital, where there are no cameras,” he claimed. “They put their shields to his head. Tebogo was handcuffed and he was screaming and trying to protect himself.”

Another inmate, Vusimuzi Nkonyana, saw Bereng leaving the hospital: “I saw him coming from the hospital as they were taking him to segregation. It looked like he was fitting.”

Mr Bereng was known to be an epilepsy sufferer, and wrote to the WJP in 2014 complaining about expired medication he was given for his epilepsy.

After he complained about his duvet, he was escorted to an isolation cell in a different unit by the Ninjas.

Some hours later, warders found the prisoner lifeless in his cell and he was brought back to the hospital where a doctor declared him dead.

The doctor wrote “post mortem requested” at the bottom of the medical form that was submitted to Chantelle Liebenberg, a pathologist at the state mortuary in Bloemfontein.

A man is taken into custody

Ms Liebenberg only performed an external exam however – a post mortem includes an internal exam – on 2 April and determined that the cause of death was natural, based on the information given to her by the prison.

She wrote in her report: “According to the inmate who shared a room with him, he started not feeling well and collapsed.”

His cell mate, however, told WJP that a healthy Mr Bereng had been escorted out of his cell by the EST after a row with the warders.

Mr Nelani’s and Mr Bereng’s suspicious deaths are not the first or last that have raised eyebrows at the embattled prison.

The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) in its 2014 report stated that G4S did not comply with operating procedures that are in place for suicides. JICS further claimed that G4S had not provided an autopsy report for an alleged suicide that took place on 13 August 2013.

Despite evidence of non-compliance over the use of force, the obligation not to torture, the correct handling of deaths in custody and many other transgressions, G4S was handed back control of the prison a year ago.

Logan Maistry, a spokesman for The Department of Correctional Services, said its own takeover of the prison had “stabilised the situation in restoring effective control, discipline and rehabilitation programmes”.

He denied any suggestion that G4S officials would not be held accountable if prisoners had been abused or killed.

“In terms of the Correctional Services Act and other relevant legislation, any person/s found guilty of any violation/s must face the consequences of their actions,” he said.

“To this end, DCS is ensuring that no stone is left unturned in this investigation and any person/s found guilty will face the full might of the law.”

He could not, however, indicate when the investigation report would be finalised or if it would be made public. He claimed both Mr Nelani’s and Mr Bereng’s deaths have been referred to the South African Police Service but the force was unable to confirm this.

Meanwhile Elanie Kruger, a spokesman for G4S, told WJP it was a law-abiding security provider. “G4S is confident that it complies with all the laws and regulations which stipulate in detail how investigations are conducted following the death of a prisoner and are committed to fully cooperate with the DCS,” it said in a statement.

“We strive at all times to uphold the rights of inmates and treat them accordingly,” Mrs Kruger said.

On Sunday night, a G4S spokesman told the Telegraph: “In 2013, the South African Department for Correctional Services commenced an investigation into the allegations set out by Ruth Hopkins. G4S has cooperated fully with DCS and provided all documentation available.

“Mangaung Correctional Centre has been subject to continuous inspection by various oversight bodies over the past 15 years.

“We set clear polices that require all employees to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

“We have complied with all requirements following the death of a person in our care, and we will cooperate fully with any further DCS investigation.”

Ruth Hopkins is an investigative journalist for the Wits Justice Project based at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, which investigates human rights abuses and miscarriages of justice.