Zimbabwe Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi and the situation in Zimbabwe prisons
BEITBRIDGE - Beitbridge prison wardens are in trouble for smuggling in investigative reporters from SABC's Special Assignment programme into the prison to carry out investigative work. The Zimbabwean has learnt.

The SABC crew recently produced a documentary exposing the rot in Zimbabwean prisons. In their research they managed to work with high ranking prison officials that they managed to bribe.
We are in trouble because the Zimbabwe Prisons Commissioner believes that we had a hand in the expose. His argument is that we compromised state security. I personally feel we were right because without doing so the world would not have known what really happens in Mugabe's jails. There is an internal investigation underway, said a prison guard.
The poor state of affairs at the boarder town's jail has been a cause of concern to the local business community as well as clearing agents from the boarder. Before the SABC team sent in its equipment the business community had been engaged in charity work such as donating food for the prisoners who shared with the ill paid prison staff.
We usually help by giving food once in a while. There is a prominent local businessman who has been instrumental, whenever he slaughters a beast he donates the offals and the head so as to feed them, said Abel Mhlanga a clearing agent.
The Zimbabwe Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi does not deny that prison life is unbearable in Zimbabwe but argues that proper channels have to be used to get information.
It is not a secret that the situation is bad in prison but people should respect and use proper channels for accessing information. If anyone is found to have helped those journalists they will get arrested in the same prison, said Zimondi.
Zimbabwe has 42 prisons around the country housing criminals and political detainees.
The Beitbridge prison was initially a remand base for deportees but has been used to house criminals of all sorts. Its capacity is to carry only a 100 prisoners but it is now a home to more than 300.