Correctional Services distance themselves from ‘Release Andile Lungisa Campaign’

The group alleges the former ANC Nelson Mandela Bay councillor, Andile Lungisa is due to be released from prison on the 1st of December after being “pardoned.”

Lungisa, who is the former ANC Youth League deputy president, has applied for leave to appeal his three-year sentence to the apex court after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld his sentence of three years in prison (one year suspended) for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

In 2018, Lugisa was found guilty of smashing a glass jug on the head of DA councillor Rano Kayser during a scuffle in the council in 2016.

Lungisa has opted to remain behind bars to finish off the prison programmes he has started, despite being granted bail in the wake of his Constitutional Court appeal.

The Release Andile Lungisa Campaign issued a statement saying “After serving his term behind the bars for more than two months Andile Lungisa will be welcomed by the masses of our country on the 1st of December 2020 at North End Prison.”

They added: “He is the hero amongst heroes and his history of activism speaks for itself.”

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However, the Department’s Singabakho Nxumalo says they not only did not pardon any inmates but would not reveal the details surrounding any inmate’s release from jail either.

“We distance ourselves from that statement – a lot of the information is inaccurate,” says Nxumalo.

“Even if someone were to be placed out, there are certain processes that need to be followed – we don’t make any announcement on the date.”

He noted: “We would never give out information about when someone is being placed out – our policies are clear – and we do not wish to give any credibility to this group.”

When contacted for comment, Thabo Kupa, one of the signatories of the statement, did not say what information the statement was based on.

He did refer to government’s special remission of sentences at the beginning of the Covid-119 lockdown, but this remission did not include any pardons and did not specify when any particular inmate would be released.

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