More than 300 prisoners sentenced to life behind bars and who had served 15 years could be considered for parole, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday.
This emerged at a high-level meeting between correctional services authorities, parole officials and some judges. The move was an attempt to curb overcrowding in prisons.
Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai, also chairperson of the National Council on Correctional Services, said they had already identified 300 prisoners serving life sentences who could be considered for early release.
”They will not be let out in one group, that’s not on the cards. What is on the cards is an evaluation of the various prisoners, offenders, and how and when and if they should be released,” he told the SABC.
Desai said those who did not meet the requirements would be referred for further rehabilitation before being given a second chance.
”Some people will not be released for whatever length of time they have served, until they no longer constitute a danger to society … people with very serious cases of murder and child rape,” said Desai.
A decision to release them would have to be endorsed by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour. He said they expected an avalanche of applications for parole from prisoners who were terminally ill. Some of these were already threatening to take the department to court to force it to release them on medical
grounds.
According to the SABC, Balfour said each application would be carefully examined. Previously, prison authorities were left red-faced after it emerged that some of those who were released on early parole were later rearrested for committing other crimes. – Sapa