A convicted rapist who escaped from Helderstroom Maximum Correctional Centre in Caledon on Saturday morning, 8 November, has been re-arrested following a large-scale night operation led by police, reports Cape town Etc .
According to a statement by police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg, a coordinated search team comprising members of the SAPS Drone Unit, Visible Policing, Public Order Police, K9 Unit, Private Security and the Department of Correctional Services was deployed after the inmate - identified as Jakob September - escaped from the high-security facility on 8 November 2025.
Hampered by difficult terrain and darkness, the SAPS Drone Unit was mobilised to assist the members on the ground with the search, said Twigg. Extensive search efforts paid off when thermal imaging technology was used by the Drone Unit to locate the inmate and he was re-arrested. SAPS members went into the river and arrested the inmate who is serving a life sentence for rape.