Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

South Africa

South Africa, Maverick News

Calls for urgent overhaul of parole system following disturbing crimes against children

Calls for urgent overhaul of parole system following disturbing crimes against children
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
30 May 2025
Facebook
1
The alleged rape of a nine-year girl by a 51-year-old convicted child rapist on parole has raised questions over the parole system, including monitoring and rehabilitation programmes, leading to calls for legislative change.

There have been renewed calls for amendments to parole legislation following multiple instances of parolees who went to prison for crimes against children being released only to commit similar crimes.  

The current parole legislation was adopted in 2004 and amended in 2011. There have been repeated debates calling for a comprehensive review of the system, but the same legislation, which critics say is outdated, remains in place. 

The process to review the parole system began in 2015, when the then minister of justice and correctional services, Michael Masutha, appointed a task team to “re-engineer” the system.

Ten years later, the proposed changes have not been tabled in Parliament. The Department of Correctional Services is engaging internally to finalise the revised parole system and will then table it in the Cabinet. Proposals include addressing inconsistencies in parole board decisions, employing sufficient case assessment officials, case intervention officials, and criminologists, and creating a centralised unit to include victims in parole considerations. 

South Africa’s recidivism rate (convicted criminals who reoffend) is estimated to be as high as between 86% and 94%, highlighting deep challenges in the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into society.

Read more: Attacks on children — the scourge of violent crime affecting SA’s most vulnerable

There are rising calls from civil society for rapid reforms to the parole system following the alleged rape of a nine-year-old girl in Hanover Park, Cape Town, by a 51-year-old convicted child rapist, who was out on parole. The alleged rape occured on Tuesday, 13 May 2025, in the gang-ravaged community.

On the same day, Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald and Anna Molepo, the Department of Correctional Services’ chief deputy commissioner of incarcerations and corrections, presented an update to the Correctional Services Portfolio Committee on the parole system overhaul.

In response to questions, the minister said he was deeply concerned about the 3,147 parolees and probationers who committed crimes while on parole between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.

“Correctional services means they must serve the public. We serve them by protecting them against criminals; that is what our task is — to create a safe environment for the citizens of South Africa.”

Groenewald said that when he made a decision on granting parole, after considering the recommendations from the parole board and National Council for Correctional Services (NCCS), he asks himself: “What then if that person reoffends and rapes another child? That is where conscience comes in.” 

DA MP Janho Engelbrecht stated: “It is ludicrous that it took 10 years to debate the parole system review and we are still not done. Why is something as important as this taking so long?

“If you think of that poor nine-year-old child and her family, why was the 51-year-old parolee released as a sexual offender?”

In the alleged rape of the nine-year-girl by the parolee, the girl went missing while on her way to the mosque. 

Rescued


The parolee allegedly approached her and handed her R20 to buy milk. It is further claimed that the girl returned with the milk, went inside the parolee’s home, and wasn’t seen until she was rescued.

CCTV footage from a neighbour’s house captured the girl entering the parolee’s home. A crowd later gathered outside the house and demanded that he be released to them.

The parolee was subsequently arrested and the girl, who was still inside his home, was rescued. Following his brief first court appearance, the parolee was charged with abduction, human trafficking, kidnapping and rape. He appeared in Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 16 May 2025, under the name Igshaan Williams.

However, Singabakho Nxumalo, the Department of Correctional Services spokesperson, indicated that the department’s records identify him as Isaac Booi. He was originally sentenced in 2008 to 25 years’ imprisonment for rape and indecent assault. After serving the minimum required portion of his sentence at Voorberg Correctional Centre, he was placed on parole in November 2024.

Nxumalo said the department had launched an internal investigation to review and assess the effectiveness of monitoring measures applied during Booi’s parole period.

Similar cases have been reported in recent years, including the rape and murders of eight-year-olds Tazne van Wyk and Reagan Gertse, both of whom were killed by men previously convicted of violent offences.

Moehydien Pangaker, 57, a serial child rapist, murdered Van Wyk in February 2020. He was imprisoned in 2008 for kidnapping, child molestation and culpable homicide but was paroled in 2013. He was arrested again in 2015 but was paroled in 2016 and was not seen by correctional services until 2020.

In January 2022, the Western Cape Division of the High Court convicted Jacobus Petoors, 55, on charges of kidnapping, rape and the murder of Gertse a few months after his release on parole for a similar crime. He was sentenced to two life sentences. 

According to the National Prosecuting Authority: “Petoors confessed that on 29 February 2020 he visited the NG Kerk to do his community service, which was part of his parole conditions. He did not find anyone at the church as he arrived late. As he walked back home, he saw Reagan Gertse at his home.”

Following the Gertse case, the CEO of crime prevention organisation the South African National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders, Betzi Pierce, said the rape and murder showed that the Correctional Services system was flawed.

Following the Gertse and Van Wyk cases, then justice minister Ronald Lamola said the system had “been found wanting on this very crucial mandate and the cost has been too ghastly to bear”. He said certain categories of offenders should face additional screening before being paroled. 

The parole process


Before the correctional service minister grants parole to a person, a due diligence process must be performed.

First, the correctional supervision and parole board examines the applicant’s profile, which includes psychological interviews with a criminologist, and a review of the case management centre’s report, and makes a recommendation, which is subsequently forwarded to the National Council for Correctional Services.

The council looks at the same profile and also makes a recommendation, which may differ from the parole board. The minister receives these reports and makes a final decision. Of importance to the minister is the applicant’s risk of reoffending.

Speaking in Parliament, Groenewald recalled an instance where the parole board and National Council for Correctional Services had recommended a prisoner, who was charged with raping children and had been sentenced to life imprisonment, should be released on parole, despite being considered as having a moderate-to-high risk of reoffending. 

“In that case and other cases, I rejected the recommendation and did not approve parole. I do not want to see another rape of a child in a year or two,” he said.

Despite these measures, the parole system faces multiple problems, including a lack of resources for case assessment or intervention officials, criminologists, and poorly appointed professionals to provide rehabilitative interventions.

According to Molepo, the department only has one criminologist in the Western Cape. He said it was reviewing the structure to ensure that they had criminologists in all regions.

Read more: SA has just one criminologist to deal with prison parole applications, MPs hear

Outcry by civil society


According to Siyabulela Monakali, spokesperson for Ilitha Labantu, a Western Cape-based organisation that addresses issues of domestic violence, political violence and the abuse of women’s and children’s rights, the case of the nine-year-old girl highlighted the urgent need to reform the parole system.

He said that for more than a decade, proposed amendments to the law had been under discussion, but no decisive action had been taken, and as a result, communities continued to suffer. 

“A survivor-centred approach must guide the parole process. Individuals convicted of rape, child abuse, and femicide should not be eligible for parole unless a thorough and independent psychological risk assessment confirms that they no longer pose a threat. These assessments should be transparent and play a critical role in parole decisions, rather than relying solely on time served or conduct while incarcerated,” Monakali said.

Kaylynnn Palm, the spokesperson for Action Society, noted that the alleged rape of the nine-year-old girl underscored the reality of parolees who reoffended after being released from jail. 

“We have a serious problem in this country with parolees being released back into communities only to victimise more women and children. Furthermore, we at Action Society firmly believe that situations like this can be prevented in the future if we make the National Register for Sexual Offenders public — if we know the people living in our midst we can be more vigilant and protect our loved ones,” Palm said.

Why are parolees reoffending?


According to Magda Reynolds, a business and development manager at the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders in South Africa, one of the primary contributing factors to high reoffending rates is the overwhelming burden placed on parole boards, which include:

  • Unfilled vacancies, and parole boards are typically composed of individuals from varied backgrounds, many of whom may lack the specialised expertise required to evaluate complex psychological and behavioural risk factors associated with recidivism.

  • Parole boards also do not always receive the necessary or appropriate reports and information to make informed decisions. Critical documentation, such as mental health assessments, criminogenic risk evaluations, or victim impact statements may be incomplete, delayed, or altogether missing. This leads to decisions being made without a full understanding of the parolee’s readiness for reintegration or the potential risk they may pose.


On how the parole system can be improved, especially to protect vulnerable children, Reynolds suggested: “After parole boards conduct thorough assessments — including psychological, criminogenic risk and victim impact evaluations — individuals deemed suitable for parole should be referred to community-based organisations with a proven track record and experience in working with offenders.”

But these services are currently underfunded or non-existent due to a lack of resources. Reynolds said: “A comprehensive, funded and integrated parole support model is urgently needed to ensure that parole is not only a privilege, but a meaningful step toward social reintegration and reduced recidivism.” DM

Childhood in Crisis



  • This is a special Daily Maverick editorial project exposing the brutal realities of child abuse, neglect, and systemic failure — and what needs to change.

  • Over the coming days, we’ll be publishing a series of in-depth articles.

  • Keep checking this page for the latest stories in the series.



 


Categories:

Tags: