Cape Town - Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said while there were a number of flaws in the parole system, it was not broken.Lamola convened an urgent two-day meeting at the Goodwood Correctional Centre with officials on Wednesday following a spate of child murders allegedly committed by parolees.
He said his department was at the core of transforming society and individuals “when all else has failed”.
He said on two recent occasions, however, the department was found wanting, which led to the loss of “a daughter and a son and for that we are deeply pained”.
Tazne van Wyk, 8, of Elsies River, was laid to rest on Saturday.
She was kidnapped and murdered allegedly by a parolee, her neighbour Moyhdian Pangarker.
The body of Reagan Gertse, 7, was found in the bushes on a river bank in Tulbagh in the Cape Winelands on Sunday, after his family reported him missing the same morning.
The suspect is Jakobus Petroos, 53, who was imprisoned for rape but released on parole four months ago.
“The loss of one life is one too many, but two is a tragedy we may never find the lexicon to describe,” Lamola said. “If a case of Tazne or Regan does not give us a perspective about reforming the parole system, nothing else will. While we may argue that our parole system is flawed, but not broken, we should not be satisfied with a system that is not predictable.”
Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said while there were a number of flaws in the parole system, it was not broken. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency(ANA)
Minister Ronald Lamola at the Goodwood Correctional Facility Hall addressing the media briefing on the efficacy of the parole system. Next to him on the right is his deputy Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa and Judge Siraj Desai and left is National Commissioner of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser and Western Cape regional commissioner Delekile Klaas. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency(ANA)
Lamola said the situation in the Western Cape that saw children falling prey to parolees was giving him sleepless nights.
“We are embarking on a process to review some of the parole laws and parole policies, and we are in consultation with the National Council for Correctional Services.”
He said various rehabilitation programmes that their parolees undergo to equip them with skills to assist them to abhor their previous life of crime needed to be reviewed. He said that would be done with the assistance of experts, criminologists, psychiatrist, universities, courts and the police.
“We must look at scientific diagnosis in so far as this is concerned.
“I am pleased to hear that a team of this nature has been set up to profile all gender-based violence and femicide offenders to ensure that these offenders are directed to a specific type of sentence plan.”
According to Tizina Ramagaga, a researcher at the Crime and Justice Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, the Correctional Services Department was expected to play a significant role in safeguarding the rights of victims and offenders, by assisting the correctional supervision and parole boards in determining an offender’s suitability for parole.
“The purpose of parole is to assist people who have been convicted of a crime and have served time in prison to reintegrate into their communities once they are released,” Ramagaga said in her research.
* Video by Sisonke Mlamla.
@SISONKE_MD