Covid-19: The process of granting low-risk inmates parole will help reduce overcrowding by 12% – Minister for Justice and Correctional Services

Minister for Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, briefed the media on the special Covid-19 parole dispensation as approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Lamola said that they have been confronted with a glaring impossibility of maintaining social distancing within prisons due to overcrowding. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has advised that all states are obliged to prevent foreseeable threats to public health and ensure that all who need vital medical care receive it.

“Currently, our Covid-19 preventative measures are stretched to the brink, we have managed thus far, but the spread of the virus continues. We ought to act decisively and prevent this invisible killer from rapidly multiplying in our centres. We convey our gratitude in this regard to the officials of correctional services who held the fort thus far in managing the spread of the virus in our centres.”

He said that as of 7 May, there have been 172 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in correctional centres. There are 77 affected inmates and correctional services officials. The breakdown is as follows:

• Eastern Cape: 36 officials, 66 inmates infected, 2 fatalities, 58 recoveries
• Western Cape: 52 officials, 3 inmates infected, 1 fatality, no recoveries
• Gauteng: 4 officials, 8 inmates infected, 0 fatalities, no recoveries
• Limpopo: 2 officials infected, 0 inmates infected, 0 fatalities, 1 recovery
• Head office: 1 official infected, 0 inmates infected, 0 fatalities, 0 recoveries.

The World Health Organisation said that prisons around the world can expect huge mortality rates because many of them are overcrowded. “Another exacerbating factor is that some of the inmates already have a compromised immune system, as a result of chronic conditions. This makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19 and it can have a catastrophic effect on inmates, officials, communities around correctional centres as well as the broader public.

“In line with this observation, most countries across the globe released inmates who are close to serving their Minimum Detention Periods and were sentenced for non-violent crimes, to avoid the Covid-19 rampage.”

Lamola said that with this information, the department requested and received approval from President Cyril Ramaphosa to place selected categories of low-risk offenders in the community corrections system. Inmates who are serving sentences for sexual offences, child abuse, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, sedition, high treason, sabotage and terrorism will be excluded from the Covid-19 dispensation programme.

“Approximately 19 000 inmates across the country will benefit from this decision provided they meet requirements of the parole board. They will be considered on a case by case basis and those who qualify will be placed on parole after all the due processes, including Victim-Offender Dialogues, have accordingly unfolded.”

The process will also include a comprehensive screening process including the taking of fingerprints and DNA and there will be input from social workers and criminologists. He highlighted that the programme entails bringing forward the date which an inmate can be considered for parole. “It does not alter the sentence that inmates received. All the inmates placed on community corrections are expected to abide by conditions that parole boards will impose upon them.”

He highlighted that should the parolees display behaviour that is against the law, the department will not hesitate to revoke their parole and incarcerate them.

“We acknowledge that the special remission reduced overcrowding in our centres, but unfortunately, we still have a high percentage of overcrowding which currently stands at 32 per cent as of 4 May.” The process of granting low-risk inmates parole will help reduce overcrowding by 12 per cent.

Overcrowding in correctional facilities is as follows:

• Eastern Cape: 54.88 per cent
• Gauteng: 52.1 per cent
• Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West: 39.18 per cent
• Western Cape: 29.08 per cent
• KwaZulu-Natal: 25.97 per cent
• Free State and Northern Cape region: 0.45 per cent

“These are overcrowding challenges that confront us. Overcrowding is a multi-dimensional problem caused by various societal challenges such us criminality, unemployment, substance abuse and poverty, among others.

“The levels of crime must significantly be reduced for us to avoid overcrowding in our centres, which currently poses a great risk to both inmates and officials.”

He added, “We want to emphasise that behind correctional centres walls, offenders are being rehabilitated. There are programmes which are aimed at correcting offending behaviour, aide human development and promote social responsibility and positive social values.

There are a number of activities which inmates are involved in which aim to help rehabilitate. They are now exploring the option of producing face masks and soaps to assist in the fight against coronavirus.

Lamola added that those awaiting trial contribute significantly to overcrowding as there are 5 000 inmates who were unable to post bail. He said that the department is looking at intervention measures to assist with this. He highlighted that a task team of experts, criminologists and criminal psychologists will assess the efficacy of the rehabilitation programmes and identifying gaps that lead to offenders reoffending.

“We are not oblivious to the concerns of society towards releasing offenders before their sentence expiry dates. We arrived at this decision after careful consideration of the facts before us. This measure is aimed at protecting the entire spectrum of South Africa from the Covid-19 pandemic, we cannot afford to falter, and we must flatten the curve and preserve lives.”

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