The parole board of Zonderwater Prison has been suspended with immediate effect, the correctional services department said on Tuesday.
“The suspensions relate to the ongoing internal investigations over the erroneous recommendation by the Zonderwater correctional supervision and parole board to convert the custodial sentences of convicted murderers Reinach Tiedt and Gert van Schalkwyk to correctional supervision,” said spokesperson Phumlani Ximiya in a statement.
Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk were among a group of four boys convicted of killing a homeless man in a park in Pretoria in 2001.
They left Zonderwater Prison on December 16 2011, three years into their 12-year sentence.
The same sentences meted out to their co-accused, Christoff Becker and Frikkie du Preez, were not commuted.
Ximiya said the chairmen of the Zonderwater medium A and B case management committees had also been placed on immediate suspension.
“Once the investigation has been concluded the department of correctional services will make a determination as to whether to proceed with a full disciplinary process against officials implicated in the matter,” said Ximiya. — Sapa