Prisoners livid over delayed parole due to being ignored by dept

More than 200 prisoners at Leeuwkop Correctional Facility in Johannesburg claim to be overdue for release on parole, despite the department of correctional services denying it.

Prisoners have claimed they were being deliberately kept behind bars, despite meeting all the obligations which would qualify them for parole.

For one prisoner, 53-year-old David Sibeko*, the promise of his release date earlier this month after over a decade behind bars has been broken and so has his faith in the criminal justice system.

After contracting Covid-19 and spending weeks in a single cell, monitored by a nurse last year, Sibeko became one of scores of prisoners who believed they were up for release on parole, ostensibly after being informed by department officials.

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But according to department spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo, this is incorrect.

“Inmates have to have completed certain programmes to appear before a parole board. “Anyone who has not been called before a parole board for consideration of their application for parole has simply not met this criteria,” he said.

But prison rights activist Miles Bhudu highlighted a possible underlying issue in the disconnect between the expectations of in mates and the prison system.

Inmates are not informed of their rights, nor are they taken through the programmes required for release on time, which Bhudu said was the fault of officials.

“The implementation of this parole system in SA is in tatters because of failure by the officials,” said Bhudu.

“In developed countries, inmates are prepared a month or two in advance as to how to present themselves before the parole board and officials make sure that the inmate has gone through all the necessary programmes required for release.”

Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) spokeswoman Emmarentia Cupido agrees with Nxumalo’s assertion that prisoners who met the requirements for release can’t be kept past their due date, but said it was possible that a backlog in the system may be contributing to inmates’ frustrations.

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Programmes include a psychiatric or psychological analysis, observation by a social worker and an engagement with the victim or victim’s family, where applicable.

Many prisoners are stuck behind bars because they don’t go through all of these programmes in time for their parole hearing.

According to Bhudu, this is unfairly being made the inmates’ responsibility and not that of the department.

“Correctional officers are in direct contact with the inmates. They are the ones who prepare the report that will be considered by the parole board. You can’t blame the inmates if they arrive before a parole board with an empty or incomplete report.”

*Not his real name

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za