AGSA’s findings: South Africa’s parole system betrays its constitutional duty
Media Statement by Thandi Nontenja, MP and UDEMWO Secretary General
The United Democratic Movement Women’s Organisation (UDEMWO) welcomes the recent findings of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) on the Department of Correctional Services, which expose deep and long-standing weaknesses in the country’s parole system.
For years, UDEMWO has warned that South Africa’s parole regime places the lives of women, children and communities in danger. The AGSA report confirms what victims have known all along: the system no longer serves justice. It is failing its constitutional and moral duty to protect citizens and to uphold the rule of law.
According to the AGSA, offenders whose parole was previously revoked are still being considered for release on new sentences. The report also shows that more than a third of inmates are remand detainees who receive no meaningful rehabilitation, while many convicted offenders, including those found guilty of sexual offences, do not receive the mandatory psychological services required by law. The audit further revealed that the Department’s Integrated Inmate Management System lacks basic integrity, with incomplete records and missing identifiers that make it impossible to track offenders properly or to assess their risk before release.
This negligence has deadly consequences. When a system allows violent offenders to walk free without proper preparation, supervision or rehabilitation, it fails the victims who continue to live with trauma and fear. UDEMWO shares the anguish of families whose loved ones became victims of a system that released danger back into their communities
UDEMWO calls for immediate and decisive action from the Department of Correctional Services and Parliament:
1. Victims must be placed at the centre of parole decisions, and their safety must carry more weight than administrative convenience.
2. Risk assessments must be strengthened to ensure that offenders with a history of violence or parole revocation are not released without thorough multidisciplinary review.
3. Data systems must be repaired and regular reports on parole approvals, reoffending and violations must be tabled in Parliament and made available to the public.
4. Offenders should only become eligible for parole once they have completed meaningful rehabilitation and demonstrated readiness to reintegrate into society.
5. Parliament must hold parole boards accountable for negligent decisions and ensure that consequences follow where released offenders commit serious crimes.
Each act of violence committed by a parolee is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a system that has lost its moral compass. Justice cannot end at sentencing; it must extend to ensuring that rehabilitation is real, that victims are respected and that communities are safe.
Communities also have a duty to support survivors, report crime and break the silence that protects perpetrators. Real reform will require collective responsibility from government, society and every institution tasked with protecting the vulnerable.
Until the parole system is rebuilt on principles of accountability, transparency and compassion for victims, it will remain a danger to the very people it was meant to protect. UDEMWO will continue to speak for those whose voices are ignored and to demand a justice system that honours both the Constitution and the sanctity of human life.
