28s gang leader awarded damages after prison kettle attack

A “HUMANITARIAN” act on behalf of correctional services’ officials to supply inmates in a prison cell with a kettle, which was later used as an assault weapon when they poured boiling water down the throat of a fellow inmate, will cost the taxpayer dearly.

- ZELDA VENTER

The Western Cape High Court ordered that the ministry of correctional services is liable to pay damages to inmate Nathaniel Hendricks, a leader of the notorious 28-prison gang, who was severely injured during the incident. The amount of damages will be determined at a later stage.

Hendricks held the department liable for the injuries he suffered in April 2018 in cell C6D in the Goodwood prison. The assault was inflicted on him by his own gang members and he was eventually rescued by members of a rival gang, who share the communal cell. Hendricks, who is said to be no stranger to prison life, was at that stage detained awaiting trial on a charge of murder. He was a senior member of the 28-prison gang and upon admission at Goodwood, he had chosen to be placed in a cell with his own, as well as rival gang members.