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Today, the Department of Correctional Services briefed the Portfolio Committee on the impact of the 2012 special remissions programme. The high number of re-offenders shows that the pre-release programme implemented by the Department has once again failed.

The DA said from the start that the Department had not learnt from the mistakes of the previous round of special remissions in 2005. After the Special Remissions of 2005, a total of 157 offenders were re-admitted to correctional centres as awaiting-trial detainees within less than two months of their release.

This year’s remissions process was completed on the 6th of July. Since then, a total of 144 re-offenders has already been re-admitted to correctional centres.

Although this number has decreased slightly, what has increased is the number of aggressive offences. In the previous report to the Committee on the special remissions of 2005, the majority of offences were economic, with only 11 crimes being of an aggressive nature. In this round, 21 of the re-offenders’ crimes were labelled as aggressive and of the economic crimes, 15 of the 82 cases involved aggression.

This increase in the number of aggressive offences demonstrates that the pre-release programme was inadequate. The programme needs to be far more holistic, with a greater focus on rehabilitation and reintegration.

The DCS stated in its presentation that this programme afforded them “an opportunity to reflect on issues/challenges of focus and to plan intervention to enhance among others the proper functioning of computer systems and identification of re-offenders”. However, this programme should have afforded them an opportunity to implement an effective rehabilitation and pre-release programme.

What is the worth of proper functioning computer systems when ordinary South African citizens’ safety has been put at risk?