Parole board reform: Minister promises to prevent another tragedy

Parole boards need to be sensitive to the nationwide scourge of gender based violence (GBV), according to justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola. 

Western Cape communities have reached boiling point over the recent deaths of young children at the hands of men who had been released from custody on parole, only to return to the communities and commit similar crimes that initially saw them removed from society. 

The Justice Department is set to pilot a data collection programme to profile offenders. The initiative is a joint venture between the Department of Correctional Services and Home Affairs.

Speaking to the media at Goodwood Correctional Services in Cape Town on Wednesday, Lamola conceded that the parole system is flawed and needs reform. 

“We are meeting here in a sombre mood of violence and brutal murder of our kids by people who were in our care in correctional services. Our parole system is flawed but not broken.” 

“We should not be satisfied with a system that is not predictable, when cannot assure society that when we release people through  the parole programmes, society will not be exposed to high risks and danger.” 

Repeat offenders

Tazne van Wyk and Reagan Gertse were only eight-years-old when men released from correctional services in the Western Cape claimed them as victims. 

Whatever rehabilitation procedures were supposed to be in effect during their killers time behind bars was evidently insufficient to prevent them from committing the same crimes again, and pouring further heartache on communities already despairing over the safety of their women and children. 

Van Wyk was murdered and left in a stormwater drain near Worcester after she was allegedly kidnapped by parolee Moehydien Pangaker, who had previously been found guilty on 11 convictions. Gertse was allegedly killed by a 58-year-old man who had been released on parole in November 2019.

Lamola said that it was unacceptable that the decision to free these men into society was taken, and said that part of the problem within parole boards is a tendency for members to place the victim of parolees prior crimes 

“Most members [of parole boards] have been beyond reproach, but there have been instances where there has been a lapse in terms of decision making, particularly where the victim is placed at the centre of the process.”

“The victims can’t be bystanders in this regard.” 

Reform required

He vowed to identify problematic aspects of the process so as to strengthen the sense of public safety regarding decisions made about violent offenders. 

“Were are embarking on a process to review some of the parole laws and policies in consultation with NCCS, we will soon engage on this public engagement with regards to where changes need to be made.”

“The outcomes of this will allow us to say that we are rebuilding a person here, and the rehabilitation programmes are responding to the public outcries of South Africans.”