Notorious criminal and serial escapee Ananias Mathe dies

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Notorious criminal and serial escapee Ananias Mathe dies

11:23 CAT | 28 Dec 2016

Notorious prisoner and escape artist Ananias Mathe tried to escape from what is one of the most secure prisons in the country. Picture: Sizwe Ndingane

Ananias Mathe (in file CoM)

Ananias Mathe, has died, it was reported on Wednesday.

TimesLive reported that a senior prison official had said that Mathe, who was incarcerated at the ultra-secure C-Max prison in Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, had been suffering from an alleged “digestive issue” over the past three months and had to be taken to hospital several times. He allegedly had severe constipation and could not urinate.

The Mozambican national was convicted of rape, murder and house robbery, and was known for several escape attempts from maximum security prisons across the country.

He reportedly died in the King Edward VIII Hospital.

KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services could not be immediately reached by News24 for comment.

IOL reported that Mathe had attempted to escape earlier this year.

Officials reportedly discovered his attempt in September. He had reportedly removed the ventilator in his room, smashed a window, tried to loosen the window from the outside with an Allen key and managed to saw a steel window inside his cell to make it bigger.

In 2013, the Sunday Tribune reported that Mathe nearly managed to break out of the same prison.

He reportedly used a hammer and chisel to break through the wall of his maximum security cell on the third floor, and worked at night for over four months, creating a 30cm-wide hole, and then used toothpaste and clothing as makeshift plaster to conceal his work.

Sapa reported that he had escaped from Johannesburg Central Prison in January 2005 and Pretoria C-Max Prison in 2006.

Source: news24