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There continues to be disquiet and disbelief around the release of former National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi on medical parole. Neither the Minister nor the National Commissioner have answered the public’s criticism, and it is time they provided an explanation.

The real question around the release of Mr Selebi is who made the decision to grant him medical parole. In terms of sec 79(1) of the Correctional Services Act, an application for placement on medical parole must be considered by the Minister, the National Commissioner or the Parole Board. It is not clear who exactly made the decision to release Mr Selebi.

In addition, there are various factors which must be taken into consideration when deciding on medical parole. These include the type of offence and length of the sentence outstanding. Mr Selebi has only served 229 days of his 15-year sentence.

Also, complainants and relatives of the offender are allowed to make representations prior to a decision being made to place an offender on parole. It is unclear whether the complainants in this case were notified and allowed to make representations.

This process raises various questions about how the decision to release Selebi was made. Firstly, if the application was considered and approved by the Minister or the National Commissioner, the question arises as to whether political concerns trumped the medical factor. One must query whether complainants/victims were afforded the opportunity to give representations about the proposed placement on parole.

I will be submitting questions to the Minister of Correctional Services to determine the following:

• Who approved the release of Mr Selebi on medical parole;
• which factors did they take into consideration when determining his release; and
• were complainants allowed to make representations about his proposed placement on parole.

Given the huge degree of public cynicism about medical parole, it is essential that the government comes entirely clean about how the decision to release Mr Selebi on medical parole was made.