S.Africa prisoners hold woman hostage for 12 hours

Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town on March 18, 2011. By (AFP)

Johannesburg (AFP) - A female prison employee, reportedly standing in as a guard after wardens were fired for striking, was taken hostage in a maximum-security jail in South Africa, the prison operators said Thursday.

Four inmates armed with improvised weapons grabbed the woman as she watched over some 70 prisoners in an exercise yard and dragged her into a cell, according to South African daily The Times.

The woman, an administrative assistant, had been roped in to guard prisoners after more than 300 wardens were sacked for an illegal strike two weeks ago, according to the paper.

She was finally released by a police tactical response team after a 12-hour ordeal.

This was the second hostage situation in a year at the Mangaung Correctional Centre near the central city of Bloemfontein, run by security firm G4S.

Last November two inmates held a prison doctor and nurse hostage at the same prison. The nurse was released quickly and the doctor was freed unharmed some 20 hours later.

"Our employee was not physically harmed," said G4S Africa president Andy Baker, adding the woman was receiving counselling.