Cape Town - The National Council of Correctional Services (NCCS) says it is making progress in reducing the backlogs in granting parole to prisoners who have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The council, which makes recommendations to Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, was saddled with more than 3 000 cases after two sentences were slashed from 20 to 12 years in the consideration of life profiles for parole.
Judge Brian Amos Mashile, chairperson of NCCS, said the North Gauteng High Court ruling made the life profilers eligible for consideration for parole after serving 13 years and four months, instead of 20 years.
He said the ruling had meant that more than 4 300 prisoners qualified for parole consideration.
Mashile also said the Constitutional Court confirmed and varied the order on the basis that parole should be considered from the date when an offence was committed.
This led to more than 1 600 prisoners qualifying for parole consideration.
He said they had 3 053 profiles, with 70 of these considered by the NCCS, and awaiting an addendum to be finalised.
A total of 1 026 cases were subject to an audit, and 736 others were with the Correctional Services Ministry.
There are 91 cases way their way to the ministry, with 608 processed recently and 37 en-route to the regions.
“We are left with 487 that are still to be considered. Sixteen were received from last year, while this year we received 471,” Mashile said about whittling down the backlog of 2 556.
He ascribed reducing the backlog to the council holding meetings regularly to consider the profiles of prisoners due for parole.
“We intend to carry on, and there is no reason we should abandon something that is working,” Mashile said.
In addressing the backlogs, the judge said, they had embarked on an outreach programme that involved visiting the correctional centres and engaging the prisoners and also inviting professionals such as social workers, clinical psychologists and criminologists, who contributed to the profiles of prisoners considered by the council.
Mashile said they had picked up that the quality of profiles of prisoners were sometimes “poor”.
“We thought it would help if we could invite them so that they sit with us to see how we conduct our business, and how we start considering profiles of an inmate and how we come to a conclusion,” he said.
“What we also picked up was that there were matters that were not coming to us for some reason. Some fell into cracks. We considered profiles that were submitted later, whereas others submitted earlier were awaiting consideration,” he added.
Mashile said there was also a problem of the shortage of professionals without whom the council can’t make meaningful recommendations to the minister.
“We will recommend strongly that we intend to approach the national commissioner to make appointments, finances permitting,” he said.
Cape Times