Special remissions: What steps have been taken to minimise re-offending? 

The operational plan for the early release of 35 000 inmates, probationers and parolees does not take into account mistakes made in the previous round of special remissions.

A preliminary report presented to the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services by the Department of Correctional Services in August 2005 identified a number of serious flaws in that process. Not least of these was the high number of crimes committed by released prisoners in an incredibly short space of time.

In less than two months - between 13 June and 10 August 2005 - 157 offenders who benefited from special remission were re-admitted to correctional centres as awaiting trial detainees. Their new crimes included 58 cases of housebreaking, 33 of theft, 8 cases of rape and 3 of murder. 

In one case, a three-year-old boy was raped by an offender who had been released under the special remissions process. 

As with the 2005 special remissions process, the Department of Correctional Services has devoted just ten weeks to the preparation and rehabilitation of prisoners who qualify for early release. The likelihood is that many of these prisoners will commit crimes against innocent victims again and, if they are caught, end up back behind bars.

We believe that the premature release of un-rehabilitated prisoners is a danger to the public. Prisoners should be properly rehabilitated before they are allowed to walk the streets again. If they are not, they are likely to re-offend and end up back in jail, defeating the purpose of the special remission, which is to alleviate prison overcrowding. 

The 2005 report to the portfolio committee recommended that the "processes followed during special remission should be well-documented to inform similar/future projects". On 4 August 2005, then Minister of Correctional Services, Ngconde Balfour, stated that by the end of September 2005, a "national task team would present a final report on the remissions that would include their findings, recommendations and lessons learnt that could be utilised in our objective of promoting corrections as a societal responsibility." 

To my knowledge, this report was either never completed or never made public. We certainly never considered it in the Portfolio Committee. As the current operational plan is virtually identical to that used in 2005, it is not clear whether a final review was indeed conducted and, if so, how it informed the operational plan for the current remissions. 

I have today written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Mr Vincent Smith, to request that the Department be called to the committee to present the findings of the final report on the 2005 process. The South African public deserves to gain a clear understanding of the lessons learned from that round of remissions and how the mistakes made then have been rectified this time around.

I will also be submitting parliamentary questions to ascertain:

• Why the 2005 report was not made available to the public as promised by the Minister;
• how many prisoners released in 2005 went on to re-offend; and
• what new measures have been put in place to decrease the rate of early-release prisoners re-offending.

The South African people need assurance that their security has not been compromised by the early release of 35 000 prisoners. The safety of citizens should be the overriding concern when embarking on a remissions process such as this. At this point in time, we are not convinced that it is. 

Statement issued by James Selfe MP, DA Shadow Minister of Correctional Services, May 1 2012

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