Allan Heyl, the last surviving member of the Stander Gang of bank robbers, was released from Krugersdorp Prison on Wednesday, the Department of Correction Services said.
Department spokesperson Graham Abrahams said standard conditions of parole included having a fixed address, reporting regularly to his parole officer and not participating in crime.
Additional conditions were a ”private matter” between Heyl and his parole officer. He would probably live in Gauteng. Abrahams pointed out that Heyl was not ”a free man” but would spend the remaining 10 years of his sentence on parole.
He was going on parole because the department believed that he had responded positively to various rehabilitation programmes.
Heyl, in his early 50s, was a member of a gang that committed a string of robberies in and around Johannesburg over a few months towards the end of 1983 and early 1984. It has been claimed the gang netted over R500 000 from 20 banks between November 1983 and January the following year.
The gang was led by former police captain Andre Stander, who fled the country and was killed in a shoot-out with police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the United States in February 1984.
Another accomplice, Patrick Lee McCall, was killed when police stormed the gang’s hideout in Houghton that January.
Heyl was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1977 for robbing five Pretoria banks. He met fellow inmates Stander and McCall at the Zonderwater prison, and the three escaped in late-1983 before setting off on their robbery spree.
When his accomplices were killed, Heyl fled the country in 1984 for England, where he was sentenced the following year to nine years imprisonment for crimes committed there. After serving his sentence, Heyl was extradited to South Africa in November 1991 to stand trial for his Stander gang offences.
He pleaded guilty to 18 counts of robbery, 17 of illegal possession of arms and ammunition, five of car theft and one of escaping from prison. Heyl was denied parole twice in the past two years.
Last year, he unsuccessfully approached the Pretoria High Court for an early release. He reportedly sought his freedom to enable him to claim royalties from a recent American-made film about the gang’s exploits.
Heyl attained a number of certificates while in jail, including on ”the management of change”, emotional intelligence, listening skills, jealousy management, ”investment in excellence”, and anger management.
He obtained a certificate in adult education and completed a tutor’s course, the statement said.
”He has also been through the programme aimed at correcting the offending behaviour.”
In a separate statement, Heyl’s media consultant Stuart Lee said he was to hold a press conference following his release on Wednesday afternoon.
Heyl is to field questions live on 702 Talk Radio’s David O’Sullivan show from 4pm. – Sapa