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Bob Hewitt granted parole


Former tennis star Bob Hewitt who was jailed on charges of rape and sexual assault was granted parole on Tuesday following a hearing at St Albans prison outside Port Elizabeth.

 He is expected to be released on 24 April.

 Port Elizabeth attorney, Tania Koen, who represented his two of his three victims, said they were waiting for a written statement outlining his parole conditions.

 "I haven’t been able to reach my one client, unfortunately. As far as Olivia (Jasriel) is concerned she said she feels numb,” said Koen.

 She said her client was aware that Hewitt was eligible for parole, as is anybody else that has served a certain amount of time their sentence."

 The 80-year-old, who lives in the Eastern Cape, was sentenced to an effective six years in prison.

Hewitt was initially granted parole but this was revoked by the Minister of Justice and Corrections when it came to light that the proper procedures were not followed in the matter as his victims needed to be consulted in a parole hearing.

The Department of Correctional Service said that Hewitt, who was classified as a first time offender, was placed on parole in line with Section 73 of the Correctional Services Act.

Spokesperson, Singabhako Nxumalo, said the Act determines the minimum periods of a sentence that must be served before consideration may be given to possible parole placement.

He said Hewitt has served three years, six months and 22 days of his six-year sentence.

Nxumalo said he also participated in “relevant correctional programmes and was assessed by special services experts which, amongst others, include social workers and phycologists in order to determine his suitability for parole placement.”

“Inmate Hewitt will complete the remainder of his sentence in the system of community corrections, whereby he must comply with a specific set of conditions and will be subjected to correctional supervision until the sentence expires,” he said.