Durban - A Winklespruit resident was left dumbstruck after he received a phone call from the man who had broken into his home and stabbed him nearly two years ago, asking for forgiveness ahead of his presidential pardon because of Covid-19.
Anton van Rensburg, 50, said in March 2018 he was stabbed in his chest by a robber when he had awoken to his daughter’s screams. He was also cut across his throat, but he and his daughter were able to restrain the robber until help arrived.
The man was arrested, but failed to appear in court and was rearrested two months later by the local Community Crime Prevention Organisation (CCPO).
Since the call from Correctional Services, Van Rensburg has been unable to “wrap his head around the matter”.
“The woman on the line was part of the parole board and said the prisoner was on the presidential pardon release programme. Part of it was for him to call the victims, apologise and ask for their forgiveness.
"She put the robber on the line and he said ‘I’m sorry’ and I just didn’t know what to say. He told me he wouldn’t do it again and asked for my forgiveness.”
Van Rensburg said forgiveness was “not a problem”, but to forget was “impossible”.
“One feels blind-sided at the simplicity of it. You can’t help but wonder, if this was not considered serious enough, what other type of prisoners were being released among the 19 000 given presidential pardons.”
Van Rensburg said while he learnt from the experience and tried to move on, it had had an impact on his life.
CCPO spokesperson George Snodey said when Van Rensburg called him last week telling him about the phone call, Snodey thought he was joking.
“The only reason Andre is alive is because the perpetrator used a bread knife. Had it been a steak knife, Andre would be dead now because he stabbed him twice,” said Snodey.
He felt it was unacceptable the robber was being released.
In April, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that about 19 000 prisoners would be released from prisons to assist in curbing the spread of Covid-19 and reduce overcrowding numbers.
Female prisoners with children, prisoners over 60 and those with health problems would be prioritised.
The Department of Correctional Services is yet to release the prisoners. Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said they were busy with internal processes and normal parole processes still needed to be followed.
“At present, the numbers are really small, so we will start releasing prisoners once all that needs to be in the profile is there. There is no change in the process,” said Nxumalo.
He said parole was conducted on a case-by-case basis, including victim/ offender dialogues.
As of May 26, the provincial department had two officials who tested positive for Covid-19, among more than 700 positive cases countrywide.