Some coincidences are simply too much of a stretch. Very few people will believe that the government’s decision to remit the sentences of 9 400 non-violent, short-term prisoners, starting today, just happened to coincide with the return to prison of former President Jacob Zuma, himself one such non-violent, short-term prisoner.

Section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution gives the President the power to remit all penalties, including imprisonment, and such remissions of sentence are a normal and necessary mechanism within the criminal justice system. They allow the authorities to intervene for a range of reasons: to relieve prison overcrowding or to tackle the spread of disease among inmates; to release prisoners whose crimes – such as possession of small amounts of dagga – are no longer regarded as serious; and to celebrate major national occasions like the inauguration of President Mandela in 1994 and the 25th Anniversary of Democracy on Reconciliation Day in 2019.

Report by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office