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Prisoner behind bars
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for urgent parole reforms following an investigation which found that nearly 28 000 parolees are reportedly untraceable.
Findings by the AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism found that the Department of Correctional services cannot account for 27 797 high-risk parolees who have absconded.
Among them are convicted murderers, rapists and armed robbers.
DA leader Geordin Hill Lewis says the findings raises serious concerns about the parole system, parole boards and the criteria used to grant parole.
“These are not people that the state should be losing track of. Why is it that we don’t have a proper electronic tagging system in SA in 2026. This is widely available technology; it should have been introduced ages ago and police and the Correctional Services Department and the minister must now show serious action. They should be having roadblocks, they should be putting together search parties for them, putting out rewards for information leading to their location. There’s a lot we can do. But we cannot just sit on our hands and say well it’s too many and it’s too late. That is not good enough for the public,” says Hill Lewis.
