The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services has urged all South Africans to contribute to the rehabilitation of inmates after their release from prison.
Committee Chairperson Mr Vincent Smith says, “For offenders to be fully rehabilitated, all sectors of society need to be involved, we can’t only rely on Correctional Services”.
The Committee wishes to state that it is unfair to hold the Department solely responsibility for the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders; when offenders leave the Department’s care they should become the entire society’s responsibility.
“The rehabilitation process is a lifelong process and even though the Department should take a leading role, the onus is on everyone including families and individuals to ensure that offenders are successfully rehabilitated and don’t re-offend,” said Mr Smith.
Although members of the committee conceded that it was not always possible to predict whether an offender will return to crime while on parole, the Committee will interrogate whether correctional supervision and parole boards consider all relevant aspects before granting or denying parole. This concern has arisen amidst claims of a high recidivism rate, and that many parolees repeat the same offences, or commit new ones while on parole.
The Committee also took the opportunity to correct statements made in the media that one of the suspects arrested for the murder of Stellenbosch University Professor, Mr Louis Heyns was under correctional supervision (parole) at the time. The suspect’s sentence had expired in January 2013 and therefore had been released from Correctional Services.
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