Reactions to Death of South Africa’s Most Notorious Criminal Ananias Mathe

The news that one of South Africa’s most notorious criminals – Ananias Mathe – has passed away in prison has been met with relief, and even humour, by many in the country.

Mathe was a serial rapist, robber and murderer and was serving a life sentence in the Kokstad C Max prison. He died in a Durban hospital after reportedly suffering digestive issues over the past three months.

James Selfie, Shadow Minister of Correctional Services, said in a statement that while it is considered impolite to speak ill of the dead, “however, in the case of Mr Mathe, society is now free from a dangerous and malevolent individual.”

Although Mathe performed most of his crimes in Gauteng, he was held in the KwaZulu-Natal prison because it had tighter security to hold the Mozambican… who was renowned for his serial escapes.

Referring to the escapes, as well as the so-called phenomenon of so many celebrities dying during 2016, a Barry Roux parody twitter account said: “Notorious criminal Ananias Mathe could escape C-Max Prison but he couldn’t escape 2016. Run Jacob Zuma run, 2016 is taking criminals now.”

Another Twitter user, Karabo Mokgoko, said: “Ananias Mathe, the master of escaping couldn’t escape 2016??” while S’thembiso Gamede ‏said: “What if Ananias Mathe is playing dead so he could escape his sentence as usual?”

In fact, according to local reports, when Mathe first complained of feeling ill, prison authorities suspected it was part of yet another of his elaborate plots to escape.

In Selfie’s statement, he said Mathe will be best remembered for his many escapes from prisons, including an “escape” from the Pretoria C Max prison. He was supposed to have used Vaseline to push himself through a small window, and then to have used a rope made of sheets and blankets to scale down one wall and up another. On another occasion, while awaiting trial, he was discovered with a dangerous weapon.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said these incidents point not to Mathe’s ingenuity or Houdini-like abilities, but rather to the “depressing reality that offenders with large amounts of money made from the proceeds of crimes can bribe their way out of most situations”.

Selfie said it is a tribute to the Kokstad C Max staff, and the prison’s security measures, that he was unable to escape from that prison.

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