Groenewald denies majority of 385 life sentence parole applications

Department of Correctional Services Minister Pieter Grownewald is set to be tough on potential parolees.

The Minister has been working on a parole application backlog and has finalised 325 of the 495 that had not been addressed as of his appointment following the formation of the post-29 May government.

His office states that the remaining 170 applications will be dealt with by 15 October, while the 60 submitted in the last 10 weeks by those serving life sentences have already been assessed.

Only 6% of parole applications approved

The minister may have the ultimate authority, but these decisions are based on profile evaluations conducted by the National Council of Correctional Services.

Media liaison for the minister, Euné Oelofsen, shared a breakdown of the decisions with The Citizen, revealing that only 5.97% of the applicants met the relevant criteria.

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Of the 385 applications assessed, only 23 were approved, with one given day parole, which allows daytime release before the inmate must return to the facility at night.

361 parole applicants were conditionally denied, having not met the minimum requirements.

Legislative guidelines for parole

The parole applications were adjudicated against the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 and two court rulings that made distinctions based on when the life sentences were handed down.

Van Wyk vs Minister of Correctional Service and Others applies to life sentences handed down before 1 October 2004, while Phaala vs Minister of Justice and Correctional Services applies to life sentences handed on and after that date.

Since the July 2011 Van Wyk ruling in the North Gauteng High Court, at least 4 300 offenders have had their circumstances improved based on “credit earned”.

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The Phaahla ruling was handed down in the Constitutional Court in May 2019, and has since affected over 1 600 inmates as it rendered some sections of the Correctional Services Act invalid.

In both the cases of Van Wyk and Phaahla, those serving life sentences are eligible for parole after 13 years and four months of their sentence.

As per Act 111 of 1998, offenders over 65 would be eligible after serving 15 years of their life term, provided they do not fall into the dangerous criminals definition outlined in the Criminal Procedure Act.