Latest news with #R463
The Citizen
29 minutes ago
- The Citizen
Wasted freedom: Here's how many parolees reoffended last year
Robbery, theft, housebreaking and assault were the most common crimes committed by parolees, while murder and rape increased. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has revealed how many parolees have squandered their chances of freedom. Reoffending parolees and the cost of housing inmates were recently addressed by Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald. The minister warned that the monitoring of parolees could be an area under threat as he announced a reduction in the department's budget for the coming year. More than one in 10 reoffend Groenewald signed off on a DCS report in June that detailed the number of parolees who had been rearrested in the last five years. DCS had released 287 474 inmates under correctional supervision since the 2020-21 financial year, with 29 940 parolees being rearrested in the last five financial years A written parliamentary response revealed that 5 682 of the 52 556 inmates released on parole or probation during the 2024-25 financial year had reoffended. That represents 12.4% of parolees and is up from the 10.9% from the previous financial year, as well as the highest of any of the last five years. The crimes that sent parolees back to prison early were theft (523), housebreaking (488), robbery (337) and assault (351). Rearrests for murder accounted for 209 cases while 345 parolees were rearrested on a rape or sexual assault charge — both the highest at any point in the last five years. No more easy parole Groenewald announced the department has a capital budget shortfall of R222 million and warned of the possible consequences. 'The cuts to our budget translate to the provision of security equipment being compromised; capital investment in skills development being cut; the budget for nutritional services had to be cut; capital works projects will be on hold; and the monitoring of parolees could be negatively impacted,' said Groenewald. He reiterated that he would implement strict measures on parolees, despite overcrowding in prisons. 'An excessive number of medium to high-risk offenders are being recommended for parole. Once again, we must not allow the citizens of South Africa to bear the burden of this risk,' he said. Cost of housing inmates The minister explained in his budget speech on Tuesday that South Africa was spending R463 per day per prisoner to care for inmates. He added that roughly 24 000 foreign nationals were currently passing through correctional services, costing the state R11 million per day. These were all awaiting trial and are part of the 60 000 remanded inmates who cost the state R27.7 million per day while the court proceedings drag on. Asked whether parolees were monitored after their sentences ended, the minister clarified that offenders became free citizens once their sentences were served. 'There is no provision for continuous monitoring of released offenders as they would have reached their sentence expiry date,' Groenewald stated. NOW READ: Cheap labour? Here's how much prisoners earn in Correctional Services' bakeries
The South African
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The South African
Return of corporal punishment? Minister of Education responds
Pieter Groenewald's suggestion to reintegrate corporal punishment into the system has been shot down by the Minister of Education, Siviwe Gwarube. The Minister of Correctional Services made the controversial claim whilst discussing how to curb overcrowding in prisons. In 1996, corporal punishment was officially abolished in South African schools. Delivering his budget vote at the National Assembly on Tuesday, 1 July, Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald discussed several challenges within his department. They included overcrowding, particularly of offenders who could not afford to pay their bail for petty offences. Some of them included minors, as young as 10 years old, who were jailed for stealing loaves of bread. Groenewald then suggested a debate on reintroducing corporal punishment, which was abolished in South African schools in 1996 under the Corporal Punishment Act, and later the South African Schools Act, specifically Section 10. In his speech, he said, 'If you look at our criminal justice system, we must start a debate about whether we should bring back corporal punishment.' 'A young person who steals 10 loaves of bread sits in prison and waits about three years for sentencing. Think about whether we should bring back corporal punishment.' Groenewald added: 'We must consider the costs. Keeping each of these individuals in custody costs the taxpayer R463 per person each day'. Although Pieter Groenewald's suggestion was met with strong opposition, ACDP leader, Dr Kenneth Meshoe, agreed with the minister's stance, claiming that the 1996 corporal punishment ban had 'fuelled lawlessness in schools' He said: 'We have seen a number of children acting foolishly. Bullying has increased in schools, rape is taking place in schools much more than before the banning of corporal punishment. 'Many teachers need protection from their own students. Students have learned to attack teachers, some even attack their parents at home. Now these children end up in prisons because there are parents who are brave enough to lay charges against their own children.' Meshoe added to the National Assembly: 'There's a difference between abuse and correctional discipline. I know that there are some parents out of frustration, who have gone to extremes and used corporal punishment where they shouldn't have used it.' Although Pieter Groenwald did not specifically indicate that corporal punishment should be reintegrated into schools, Minister of Education Siviwe Gwarube has already firmly rejected the idea. She simply posted 'No', responding to the fellow minister's suggestion. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Minister wants foreign offenders to serve time in countries of origin
Foreign criminals sentenced to jail time should ideally be deported to their countries of origin to serve their terms, says correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald. He hopes the home affairs department can assist with deportations of foreign offenders granted parole. His department spends R11m a day on inmates from other countries, he told parliament's correctional services portfolio committee on Tuesday. 'The South African taxpayer foots the bill for more than 24,000 foreigners in correctional facilities. Calculated at R463 per day, this results in an expense of R11,112,000 per day. 'We are exploring various solutions, including diplomatic approaches.' Anna Molepo, the department's chief deputy commissioner of community corrections, previously told the committee the number of sentenced foreigners in South African prisons was 12,676 in January 2025, which was 12.4% of the sentenced inmate population. The committee was briefed in February on the challenges the department faced, including the legal issues that affect deportation orders and the processing of foreigners. The department said it was working to ensure the Immigration Act aligns with the relevant frameworks. On Tuesday, Dereleen James, an ActionSA MP, called for accelerated deportation policies. 'Prisoners live in relative comfort while our communities are being destroyed, broken, under-resourced and forgotten,' James said. The R463 daily cost per inmate could fund 555,600 loaves of bread, enough to feed 277,800 households with two loaves each.
