Pretoria - Former Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) prisoner Shadrack Doshani, popularly known as Kenny Motsamai, has been granted parole.
Doshani was imprisoned in 1989 for killing a white traffic officer in Rustenburg during what the Azanian People’s Liberation Army called a sanctioned bank robbery. He spent 27 years in the Boksburg prison for the crime.
The Department of Correctional Services on Wednesday said the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board took the decision on Wednesday after having considered Doshani’s profile following the completion of a six-month day parole.
The initial decision to place Doshani on a day parole was taken following a favourable recommendation by the National Council for Correctional Services (NCCS) to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services.
“In terms of section 136(3) of the Correctional Services Act of 1998, the case of an offender, who has served 20 years or above, must be submitted to the NCCS, which must make a recommendation to the Minister regarding the placement of the offender on day parole or parole.
“In terms of the act, the Minister has the discretion, if the NCCS has made a favourable recommendation, as to whether or not to confirm the placement on parole of an offender,” the Department of Correctional Service spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, said.
Day parole is often used as a passage to prepare offenders who have served over 20 years to acclimatise to the outside environment and effect a gradual reintegration to society.
This part of rehabilitation, Nxumalo explained, comes with a set of conditions with which parolees must comply.
“Parolee Doshani indeed completed day parole and the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board recommended that he be placed on parole,” Nxumalo said.
He emphasised that Doshani’s placement on parole does mean the end of his sentence.
“He was transferred to the Community Corrections Office, which will supervise and monitor him as he will be serving the remainder of his sentence in the community.
“In fact, this is a conditional release for Mr Doshani from a correctional centre into the community prior to the expiration of his entire sentence.”
Doshani’s parole conditions
Doshani’s parole conditions were explained to him in the presence of his lawyers and he duly accepted them.
These conditions allow him to seek employment or start his own business, the department said.
Doshani is not to change place of work or residence without the prior consent of the Head of Community Corrections.
South Africa is using a parole system, which is of a progressive nature and based on international best practice.
Offenders, who are placed on parole, are expected to comply with a set of conditions and failure to comply with these may result in the offender, depending on the frequency and seriousness of the violations, having his parole revoked to serve the remainder of the sentence in a correctional facility.
Communities can play an important role by means of supporting parolees and ex-offenders so that they can integrate fully into society and be given space to make a meaningful contribution. – SAnews.gov.za
