Apr 8, 2011
Correctional Services minister Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula announced that 30 prisoners sentenced to life prison terms
before March 1994 will be released.
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
She said another 18 would be granted day parole.
Her announcement follows a Constitutional
Court ruling last September that offenders sentenced to life imprisonment
before March 1, 1994 could be considered for parole after serving 15 years of
their sentence.
Currently inmates sentenced to life
imprisonment must serve at least serve 20 years of their sentence, but prior to
March 1994 the minimum sentence before parole consideration was 15 years.
She said 64 prisoners had been considered for
parole and 30 had been refused parole.
She said ultimately there were 385 inmates
affected by the ruling. She hoped to have adjudicated on 95 inmates by next
week Tuesday.
She declined to name any of the inmates who
had been considered for parole or go into any detail about the crimes for which
they were convicted.
She said some had been convicted of common
crimes while others had been convicted of crimes they had committed during the political
violence of the 1980s and early 1990s.
She urged the public to remain calm.
"We should
not go into a state of panic because 385 people are eligible for parole," she said.
