Inmate in hot water after bragging about good life at Goodwood prison

An inmate at the Goodwood prison may well be singing a different tune after he openly bragged on TikTok that he was living his best life behind bars with free food and board.

Bornface Banks, a Zimbabwean national facing charges of kidnapping, was locked up at Goodwood prison on Wednesday June 19, according to Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo.

He has now also been charged with the illegal possession of a cellphone and moved to a maximum security prison after posting a video message about living the good life behind bars.

“Hello, haters, you put us in prison and think we are suffering. We are doing extremely fine - look at how happy we are. This morning, we had breakfast and in the afternoon we had lunch. We are not paying rent or buying electricity,” he says, before bursting into laughter.

Mr Nxumalo said the inmate was due to appear in court on Wednesday October 9 in connection with a kidnapping case.

“Important to highlight is that this remandee has also been charged for murder, extortion and possession of firearms (in the past),” he said, noting that those were ongoing cases.

“A search exercise was conducted on Monday July 15, and the cellphone used by inmate Banks was confiscated.

“What we have since established is that the cellphone had an active TikTok account and a number of videos posted on Wednesday June 5, Thursday June 27 and Monday July 8.”

The inmate’s actions in the videos did not reflect the prison’s values, he said.

“We strive to ensure a safe, secure, and rehabilitative environment for all inmates.”