DA
has written to the National Commissioner of Correctional Services to request
urgent reform of our current parole system. According to the DA, an existing,
but ignored, policy position paper on parole boards must be issued and must be
published by the Department of Correctional Services, so that Parliament can
start the process to re-engineer the parole system to stop alarming levels of
re-offending.
The
Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, says up to thirty six-percent
of parolees from the Cape Flats area of the Western Cape reoffend.
The
minister said this in a written Parliamentary response that these parolees
commit crimes that include murder and rape upon their release on parole.
According
to the minister, 652 prisoners from the Cape Flats received parole last year.
One-hundred-and-eighty
three of these reoffended and committed crimes that include seventeen murders
and eleven rapes.
Groenewald
says one of the reasons for the release of the parolees was a positive support
system.
The
DA reiterates a call for an urgent overhaul of parole policy with a risk-based
assessment system that factors in community impact and bars early release for
violent and firearm-related offenders unless strict rehabilitation and
reintegration conditions are met.
Done
By: Elona Sibunzi
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