Review of parole system to be completed this year, says Groenewald
Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald said he was very alive to the public debate on parole and that many were unhappy about the applicable criteria.
Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, the deputy minister of Correctional Services (foreground) and Pieter Groenewald, the minister of Correctional Services (background) in Parliament, in Cape Town during the department's budget vote speech on 15 July 2024. Picture: @GovernmentZA/X
CAPE TOWN - New Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald said that a review of the parole system would be completed this year, in response to public outcry.
He's appealed for broad support in improving the country’s prisons, saying that he alone can’t fix the myriad problems.
An MP for more than two decades, Groenewald on Monday made his maiden speech as a minister in Parliament during debate on the R87 billion budget of this department.
Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald said he was very alive to the public debate on parole and that many were unhappy about the applicable criteria.
"Reforming our parole system is not just a policy issue, but a moral imperative. Although victims of crime are allowed to participate in the parole process, how far do their voices go? That’s the question."
He also wants to see the UN's minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners being applied in South African prisons and to alleviate overcrowding.
But he said he would need help.
"Oom Pieter sal nie alleen sukses kan bereik nie. Ons sal moet saam werk." [Uncle Pieter won’t be able to achieve success on his own. We will have to work together].
However, the MK and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have rejected Groenewald's appointment, saying he was the wrong person to be in charge of a largely young, black prison population.