Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has urged government to implement cellphone signal-blocking technology at Pollsmoor Prison, warning that criminals are using mobile phones behind bars to orchestrate extortion rackets.
Hill-Lewis revealed on Friday that he had written to Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald after learning that crimes were being directed from inside the prison walls.
“The city has received various reports that crime and extortion activity is being co-ordinated by phone from within Pollsmoor. On a recent roads project inspection in Bishop Lavis, I was informed that the contractor had left the site due to extortion threats made by phone call from an underworld figure inside Pollsmoor,” Hill-Lewis said.
However, experts warn that introducing cell phone jamming technology is not straightforward.
Criminologist Simon Howell explained that South African communication laws prohibit the use of signal-blocking devices, except under limited state security provisions.
“You could argue perhaps that this is a form of state security and that would be one loophole to get around,” Howell noted.
“But the other issue is that jamming is more akin to flooding. What happens is you create a fake cellphone network that overpowers the real one. The problem is that radio frequencies are hard to contain, so these systems often disrupt signals beyond the prison itself. This may work in isolated areas, but not in prisons located within communities.”
Listen to the full interview with Simon Howell below:
VOC News
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