Picture: Daily Maverick
By REGINALD KANYANE
The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the North West on Monday urged the criminal justice system to ensure that the release of 19 000 low-risk offenders from the Department of Correctional Services is properly managed to eliminate blunders previously associated with the parole system.
This comes after the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa recommended the release of 19 000 low-risk offenders to avoid overcrowding in various correctional services facilities across the country amid COVID-19 pandemic.
SANCO provincial chairperson, Paul Sebegoe also calls on beneficiaries not to abuse humanitarian grounds that influenced the decision to grant them conditional parole to ease overcrowding including the internal and external threat posed by the spread of COVID-19 to the prison population.
“Mandatory Victim-Offender Dialogues that unfolded as part of the parole process have laid the foundation for reconciliation necessary for acceptance and community reintegration.
“We welcome the exclusion of inmates who are serving sentences for sexual offences, child abuse, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, sedition, high treason, sabotage, terrorism, offenders declared as dangerous by the court in terms of Section 286 A of the Criminal Procedure Act, 51 of 1977 from the remission of sentence process,” he said.
Sebegoe added that communities should give those earmarked for release into community corrections that include inmates with underlying health problems, elderly (above 60 years) and female offenders with infants a second chance and support them. He insisted that early warning systems must be put in place to monitor on the case by case basis deviant behavior of parolees outside the confines of the correctional services environment.
However, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it does not support the decision by Ramaphosa to authorise the parole of thousands of selected categories of sentenced offenders in order to reduce overcrowding in prisons in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19.
DA’ Member of Parliament (MP) and Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Glynnis Breytenbach said while South Africa’s overcrowded prisons create unique challenges for the Department of Correctional Services in the fight against Covid-19, they believe that the government has not adequately explored all of its options in this regard.
“This release of prisoners may lead to a greater humanitarian crisis than that which it is attempting to avoid. Many of the prisoners who stand to be released do not have families or homes to return to. Those who do may well return to a home where there is already little or no food. Finding employment, difficult enough under the best of circumstances for those with a criminal record, will be impossible in the current economy.
“So, all of these factors will increase the possibility of re-offending, contributing to South Africa’s high recidivism rate. It also adds a high social burden on already struggling families and communities,” Breytenbach said.
She said the government should have explored alternative means of reducing overpopulation in prisons, such as converting unused Department of Public Works properties into low-security correctional facilities for petty offenders and those nearing the end of their sentences.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Correctional Services and Justice, Raymond Lamola said: “The DCS has continually adopted a conscientious approach in implementing its Covid-19 Disaster Management Response Strategy across all its centres and offices. This strategy entails prevention, containment, treatment and recovery.
“We are confronted, however, with the glaring impossibility of maintaining physical distancing in our centres due to overcrowding. Those earmarked for release through the COVID-19 conditional parole must equally shoulder the responsibility that comes with the restorative justice system and demonstrate conduct that supports its intended objective to reassure victims and communities that a chance of them re-offending is remote.”
Lamola emphasizes that behind Correctional Centres walls, offenders are being rehabilitated. He further said there are programmes which are aimed at correcting offending behaviour, aide human development and promote social responsibility and positive social values.
The Guardian 