Oscar will remain behind bars… for now

It seems South African Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius might have to wait a little while longer before being considered for correctional supervision.  Just two days before he was due to be release, Minister Michael Masutha announced that the decision to release him will be referred to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board.

The decision for review comes after the Minister received a petition from the Progressive Women’s’ Movement of South Africa (PWMSA) on Monday wherein they expressed their opposition to the imminent release of  Pistorius.

Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to five years imprisonment ten months ago for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He pleaded not guilty to murder admitting he shot her, but said he thought she was an intruder.

In the PWMSA submission they request Minister in his capacity as the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, not to approve his release citing the Parole Boards’ insensitivity to the release of the offender during Women’s Month.

The minister said in a statement in considering the petition, it became desirable that he peruses the offender’s’ profile as well as the decision of the CSPB. In  asmuch as the grounds for the petition cannot be legally sustained, he had to satisfy himself that the CSPB decision and the process followed was in compliance with the law.

The minister further sought legal opinion on whether he is legally empowered to do anything if necessary. In so doing it became desirable that he considers the applicable legislation pertaining to the length of sentence for offenders incarcerated under section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).

Upon perusal of the offenders profile, he established that Mr Pistorius was sentenced to five years imprisonment in terms of section 276(1)(i) of the CPA. It is also evident that on the 5th June 2015 the CSPB considered him and took a decision to place him under correctional supervision on the 21st August 2015.

“We deem it prudent that we refer to the relevant section that deals with the process of placing an offender sentenced in terms of section 276 of the CPA. Section 73(7)(a) of the Correctional Services Act, Act 111 of 1998 states the following: ‘A person sentenced to incarceration under section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act, must serve at least one sixth of his or her sentence before being considered for placement under correctional supervisor, unless the court directs otherwise’.”

“It is apparent therefore that the decision to release him on 21 August 2015 was made prematurely on 5 June 2015 when the offender was not eligible to be considered at all. It is therefore clear that there is no legal basis upon which such a decision was made and is in contravention of Section 73 (7) (a) which requires him to have served 1sixth of his 5 years sentence. One sixth of a 5 years sentence is 10 months and at the time the decision was made Mr Pistorius had served only over 6 months of his sentence.”

The minister says he cannot make a decision to approve or disapprove the CSPBs’ decision, except for offenders serving life sentences, as proposed by the petition. However section 77(1) of the Correctional Services Act enables him to refer matters to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board (CSPRB) for a review of the decision of the CSPB. In the circumstances, the CSPRB has been requested to review the decision of the Parole Board. The consequence of this decision is that the earlier decision of the Parole Board to place the offender under correctional supervision is suspended until the Parole Review Board has decided on the matter.

The Minister said on Tuesday during a visit to Pollsmoor Prison that the legal advice he will receive will help him decide whether or not to intervene in the release of the Paralympic star.

“If the law requires of us to do anything in relation to this matter, we will do so. But at this stage, I do not want to pre-empt what will come out of the advice that I will receive and based on that advice, I should be in a better position to determine what would be the appropriate course of action,” he said.