(1)(a) The Position Paper on the Revised Parole System has been forwarded to the National Council of Correctional Services (NCCS) for consideration and to advise the Minister.
(1)(b) A Position Paper on the Revised Parole System was developed and consulted internally. A national consultation session was held with Parole Boards and a selected number of Case Management Committees as well as with NCCS, Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) and Medical Parole Advisory Board (MPAB).The NCCS hosted a round table discussion on the position paper, attended by the former Minister, former Deputy Minister, JICS, external stakeholders such as Sonke Gender Justice and Wits Justice Project. The position paper has been forwarded to the current NCCS for consideration.
(1)(c) The review process may result in some legislative amendments which will require consultation. The parole review process is receiving priority.
(2)(a) The parole review process looks at the parole process holistically and some of the matters that are considered include:
(i) Composition of the Parole Boards;
(ii) Review of the Parole Boards decision;
(iii) Minimum detention periods of offender serving for sexual and aggressive offences
(2)(b) The parole review process should allow relevant internal and external stakeholders to contribute. The outcome of the parole review process should adequately deal with all the challenges in the parole process.
(3)(a)&(b)
Fifty three (53) Parole Boards were established in terms of section 74 of the Correctional Services Act, 111 of 1998 on 1 October 2004 and it consist of:
Each Parole Board country wide consists of 5 appointed members with SAPS to be co-opted to sit in meetings. The SAPS has identified a list of offences in which cases Parole Boards must request their attendance or inputs. Three (3) members of the Board constitute a quorum. One of whom must be the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson. In bigger areas such as Johannesburg, St Albans’ Leeuwkop, Kgoši Mampuru II and Durban two Parole Boards have being established in each area to deal with daily caseloads. Dedicated parole board facilities were provided for all Parole Boards nationally.
(4)(a) The primary task of the Parole Board is the responsible consideration and approval/disapproval of placement of offenders:
(4)(b) The Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 which came into effect on
31 July 2004 in which section 74 specifically deals with the composition of the Correctional Supervision and Parole Boards and section 75 with the powers, functions and duties of Correctional Supervision and Parole Boards.
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