President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the release of thousands of inmates on parole as a measure to combat the spread of Covid19 in prisons which he said were high-risk areas for infection.
In a statement on Friday, the Presidency said that the decision by the President “could relieve Correctional Services facilities of just under 19 000 inmates out of a prison population of 155 000.”
“The parole dispensation will apply to low-risk inmates who have passed their minimum detention period or will approach this period in the coming five years.”
The Presidency said that this dispensation excludes inmates sentenced to life imprisonment or serving terms for specified serious crimes, including sexual offences, murder and attempted murder, gender-based violence and child abuse.
“Inmates affected by this decision will be placed on parole instead of having their sentences remitted. They will, therefore, continue to serve their sentence under Community Corrections until they reach their respective sentence expiry dates,” the Presidency said.
“Offenders may be arrested and ultimately re-incarcerated if they violate their release conditions.”
This process will take place over a ten-week period and will start as soon as all the Parole Board processes have been finalised.
The Department of Correctional Services said this week that two inmates at East London Correctional Centre died due to Covid19, as the number of infections at the prison climbed to 100, including inmates and officials.
The number of Covid19 cases within the Department countrywide stood at 165 as of two days ago.
