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Robbery, theft, housebreaking and assault were the most common crimes committed by parolees, while murder and rape increased.
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The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has revealed how many parolees have squandered their chances of freedom.
Reoffending parolees and the cost of housing inmates were recently addressed by Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald.
The minister warned that the monitoring of parolees could be an area under threat as he announced a reduction in the department’s budget for the coming year.
More than one in 10 reoffend
Groenewald signed off on a DCS report in June that detailed the number of parolees who had been rearrested in the last five years.
DCS had released 287 474 inmates under correctional supervision since the 2020-21 financial year, with 29 940 parolees being rearrested in the last five financial years
A written parliamentary response revealed that 5 682 of the 52 556 inmates released on parole or probation during the 2024-25 financial year had reoffended.
That represents 12.4% of parolees and is up from the 10.9% from the previous financial year, as well as the highest of any of the last five years.
The crimes that sent parolees back to prison early were theft (523), housebreaking (488), robbery (337) and assault (351).
Rearrests for murder accounted for 209 cases while 345 parolees were rearrested on a rape or sexual assault charge — both the highest at any point in the last five years.
No more easy parole
Groenewald announced the department has a capital budget shortfall of R222 million and warned of the possible consequences.
“The cuts to our budget translate to the provision of security equipment being compromised; capital investment in skills development being cut; the budget for nutritional services had to be cut; capital works projects will be on hold; and the monitoring of parolees could be negatively impacted,” said Groenewald.
He reiterated that he would implement strict measures on parolees, despite overcrowding in prisons.
“An excessive number of medium to high-risk offenders are being recommended for parole. Once again, we must not allow the citizens of South Africa to bear the burden of this risk,” he said.
Cost of housing inmates
The minister explained in his budget speech on Tuesday that South Africa was spending R463 per day per prisoner to care for inmates.
He added that roughly 24 000 foreign nationals were currently passing through correctional services, costing the state R11 million per day.
These were all awaiting trial and are part of the 60 000 remanded inmates who cost the state R27.7 million per day while the court proceedings drag on.
Asked whether parolees were monitored after their sentences ended, the minister clarified that offenders became free citizens once their sentences were served.
“There is no provision for continuous monitoring of released offenders as they would have reached their sentence expiry date,” Groenewald stated.
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