The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald and senior officials within the Department of Correctional Services to be held accountable over thousands of parolees and probationers who cannot be traced by authorities.
The party has written to Parliament requesting an urgent meeting following reports that nearly 28,000 absconded parolees and probationers remain unaccounted for.
According to the DA, the missing individuals include offenders convicted of serious crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping and armed robbery.
DA spokesperson on Correctional Services, Janho Engelbrecht, described the situation as a major threat to public safety.
“This is a public safety crisis. When murderers and rapists disappear from the parole system, the state places communities at risk and destroys public confidence in the criminal justice system,” said Engelbrecht.
He added that every untraceable parolee reflected serious failures within the justice system.
“Every untraceable parolee shows how badly the state has failed to protect the public,” the party said.
However, the Department of Correctional Services has disputed the findings of the probe.
Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said close to 53,000 parolees and probationers are currently under community corrections supervision and are subjected to various monitoring measures.
These include office reporting, home visits, employment verification and rehabilitation programmes.
Nxumalo also noted that more than 7,200 absconders had been rearrested over the past five financial years.
The DA has insisted that Parliament urgently intervene to address what it believes is a growing breakdown in the parole monitoring system.