BACK IN THE COMMUNITY

It’s unsettling when murderers and rapists are released from prison. Here experts explain why parole is an important part of the South African legal system and how it works

- MARELIZE GRBICH

YOU are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.

To survivors of crime and loved ones who’ve suffered the agony of losing someone or knowing they’ve been violated, hearing a judge utter those words is often a beacon of comfort in a sea of suffering.

It means the person who committed the crime will be removed from society, placed in an institution, and everybody affected can try to find a way to rebuild their shattered lives.

But life behind bars doesn’t mean the perpetrator won’t be released one day – and this fact was driven home recently when Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, the men who brutally raped and attacked Alison Botha in 1994, were granted parole after 28 years.

Shortly afterwards, Norman Afzal Simons, the so-called Station Strangler found guilty of killing Elroy van Rooyen in 1995, was also released on parole.

The decisions to release the men have been met with widespread anger and unhappiness – and in the case of Alison, she wasn’t even aware one of her attackers had been paroled.

So just how does the system work? We ask the experts.

GETTING PAROLE

Many find the concept of parole difficult since it means the person who committed a serious crime is allowed back into society, legal expert Llewelyn Curlewis says. 

“The reality is our prisons are overcrowded and it’s costing the taxpayer around R300 a day per prisoner. So it’s in the public’s interest that perpetrators who’ve been rehabilitated are reintegrated into society.”