Issued by: Office of Correctional Services
OFFICE OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
MEDIA STATEMENT BY MRS LIMPHO HANI, CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON CORRECTIONAL SERVICES IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
CAPE TOWN: 28 JULY 1998
THE GRANTING OF SPECIAL REMISSION OF SENTENCES BY THE PRESIDENT
Various politicians have criticized President Mandela for granting a maximum of 6 months special remission of sentence to prisoners. This criticism is fueled by sensational media reports and I cannot let these matters pass unchallenged.
To put the blame for the murder of Mr & Mrs Greeff and other on our President is to say the least ludicrous and nothing but the scoring of cheap political points. To make the assumption that these crimes have been committed because the prisoners have been released 6 months earlier also flies in the face of all logic.
There is no guarantee that the same would not have happened if these prisoners were not released earlier. It is impossible to predict human nature and human conduct and the release of a prisoner, even if he has done his full time, there is no guarantee that he will not commit a crime again. The release of prisoners therefore always carries a risk and that is a reality that all countries have to deal with.
I sincerely regret the fact that people have lost their lives at the hand of criminal elements. However, the solution does not lie in draconian measures of imprisonment, neither in the unlimited imprisonment of offenders. Criminality is a social disorder, which needs to be addressed, where it originates - in the community.
Communities have been torn apart for decades. They need to be empowered again as a matter of great urgency. Our people need jobs, proper and decent facilities and the many other amenities, which have been lacking for many years. Only once these matters have been properly addressed will we see a decline in the extreme levels of crime. To now blame the President for the ills of society is totally unacceptable and uncalled for.
The National Party seems quick to forget that in the past, they have granted special remissions of sentences on more occasions than one would care to remember. At one stage a figure of more than 50 000 inmates were reported to have benefited. Mr. Gert Oosthuizen's present attitude of holier than thou really does not go down well. We are still carrying the burdens of the past and the previous government should take the blame for the many problems which we are now facing.
The fact of the matter is that the President's special remission is once off and very rare occasion, granted at an appropriate time to inmates who have in any event reached the end of their prison terms.
It is therefore a pity that white politicians and white journalists, writing and speaking from a white perspective, fail to understand and explain the bigger picture, but rather choose to sensationalise a very complicated matter.
28 July 1998