By Palesa Matlala
• Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis demanded urgent action after reports that 27,797 parolees cannot be traced, including offenders convicted of violent crimes.
• Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald accused Hill-Lewis of playing politics and said reforms to the parole system are already under way.
A bitter row has broken out inside the Government of National Unity over reports that nearly 28,000 parolees cannot be traced.
Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis demanded urgent action after amaBhungane reported that the Department of Correctional Services cannot account for 27,797 high risk parolees who have absconded.
The report said 15,860 of them were listed as “archived absconders”. These are parolees released between 1991 and 2004 whose cases were classified as non active.
Hill-Lewis took to social media platform X and accused the government of failing communities.
“He must act today to find these parolees, bring them back before the law, and hold every official accountable who allowed them to disappear,” he said.
He said the Democratic Alliance would not accept a system where criminals roam free while communities pay the price.
Hill-Lewis also promised that a Democratic Alliance led government would introduce electronic monitoring, stronger supervision and greater accountability.
Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald hit back, accusing Hill-Lewis of cheap politics.
Groenewald said the figures being quoted dated back to 1991 and did not reflect only recent failures.
He said the department was already working on introducing electronic tracking bracelets for parolees and was making progress.
The minister also pointed to a parole summit held last year and ongoing work on changes to parole laws.
“We are busy with legislative amendments. Don’t practise cheap politics,” said Groenewald.
But Hill-Lewis was not backing down.
He accused Groenewald of hosting a “talk shop” while thousands of parolees remained unaccounted for, including people convicted of serious violent crimes.
The Democratic Alliance said it would ask Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services to conduct a full review of the community corrections system.
The party also wants the minister to launch a pilot project using GPS tracking devices within 12 months and make electronic monitoring compulsory for violent offenders on parole.
Portfolio committee chairperson Kgomotso Ramolobeng said she was concerned by the reports and would seek urgent answers from the department.
She said the committee was particularly worried by claims that some of the missing parolees had been convicted of crimes such as murder, rape and armed robbery.
Ramolobeng said the committee would hold an urgent meeting with the department before deciding on further action.
Department spokesperson Sibongakonke Nxumalo rejected claims that officials had stopped looking for absconders.
He said dedicated tracing teams were operating in all regions and that the department no longer used “archived absconders” as an inactive category.
Nxumalo said every parolee who absconds is immediately reported to the South African Police Service for investigation and tracing.
He also rejected suggestions that parolees were not being monitored.
“Community Corrections officials continue to perform supervision duties under difficult and often dangerous conditions to ensure compliance with parole conditions and protect communities,” he said.
Nxumalo added that plans for electronic monitoring remain tied up in court proceedings, limiting what the department can say publicly.
Pictured above: Prison inmates
Image source: Department of Correctional Services
