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Correctional services says the man accused of raping a 94-year-old KwaZulu-Natal woman after being released under a special remission had been serving a theft sentence.
Chief deputy commissioner for incarceration and corrections James Smalberger says he was very low risk and his sentence was for a crime that had no relation to the rape crime.
The man was arrested earlier this week for allegedly raping the 94-year-old woman in her home, near the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands town of Wartburg.
The suspect appeared briefly in the New Hanover Magistrate's Court on Thursday as members of the ANC staged a protest outside, demanding that he be denied bail.
The Times reports that the man was an habitual criminal and that his family had not wanted to sign papers for his release.
