Cape Town - Gender-based violence (GBV) activist Reverend June Dolley-Major is demanding that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) be held accountable for prisoners convicted of murder, rape and other sexual offences being released on parole, and has lodged a complaint with the public protector.
Major on Wednesday approached the public protector’s office in Cape Town to file a formal complaint against parole boards and parole officers, and for the decisions in releasing convicts without proper rehabilitation.
She said that as an activist and counsellor, she was fed up with offenders being released – who then go on to commit crimes again.
“I’m tired of having to do this work, where you have to counsel people because their child has been murdered by someone who the parole board thought was okay to send into our communities, without informing us,” said Major.
She said criminals convicted of rape and murder should not be released from prison.
“If you have raped, if you have killed, you should not get parole unless they can truly say that you have undergone a proper programme for restorative justice to take place, and convince us that the person will not re-offend, with psychological assessments being done,” Major said.
In January this year, Jakobus Petoors made headlines after he confessed to the rape and murder of 8-year-old Reagan Gertse, while he was still on parole after he raped a 5-year-old boy.
Also, Moyhdian Pangkaeker, who is on trial for the murder of eight-year-old Tazne Van Wyk, also faces charges for absconding parole, after he served part of his sentence for culpable homicide and kidnapping.
Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said that the majority of parolees comply with the conditions of their release.
“The 1% that violate their parole conditions and commit serious and violent crimes are dealt with, following legal processes. It is undesirable for parolees to re-offend, as this does cause harm to the society,” he said.
He said the parole system, which was based on a model legislated in 1998, was in need of a review and that an action plan, drafted in March this year, would deal with absconder management, restorative justice approaches, as well as community initiatives.
The Office of the Public Protector said Major’s was the only complaint of this nature against DCS, while another complaint called for the release of convicts serving life sentences. Investigation of Major’s complaint, at this stage, was subject to an assessment.
However, Major said that if the parole boards had done their jobs properly, innocent lives would have been spared.
“We could not protect those who are already dead, but we need to now, in their death, speak up for them and protect others from being raped and killed because of the decisions made by the parole board,” she said.