Pretoria Central Prison, Correctional facility in central Pretoria, South Africa
Pretoria Central Prison is a correctional facility in central Pretoria that houses six separate sections, including C Max, Pretoria Local Prison, and a wing for female inmates. The complex spreads across a large site with high walls, watchtowers, and multiple building blocks that serve different security levels.
The facility served as the main execution site during apartheid, with gallows designed to hang up to seven people at once. After apartheid ended, capital punishment was abolished and the site was converted into a modern correctional center.
The facility carries the name of Kgosi Mampuru II, a 19th-century Bakwena leader who resisted colonial authority and was executed in 1883. His name connects the site to the history of resistance and colonial conflict in southern Africa.
The C Max section holds inmates in solitary confinement for 23 hours each day and applies strict security protocols for violent offenders. Visitors have no access to the facilities as this is an active high-security prison.
In 1979, three political prisoners, Tim Jenkin, Alex Moumbaris, and Stephen Lee, escaped from the Local section of the facility. They crafted duplicate keys for ten doors and opened the final gate by cracking the lock with a homemade wooden device.
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