CAPE TOWN, Western Cape – A major public safety crisis has emerged as Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis revealed that nearly 28,000 parolees and probationers have disappeared from South Africa’s correctional oversight system. Hill-Lewis described the breakdown as a “catastrophic correctional services failure,” warning that individuals convicted of murder, rape, and armed robbery are now moving through communities without supervision.
The DA is pressing for swift action, including a coordinated national search operation and the immediate rollout of mandatory electronic monitoring for high-risk offenders. Hill-Lewis has directly called on Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald to respond within days, emphasizing that delays could cost lives.
Hill-Lewis traced his concerns back to his tenure as mayor of Cape Town, when approximately 9,000 parolees were released around the time of former president Jacob Zuma’s early prison discharge. “Within 48 to 72 hours, we observed a sharp increase in criminal incidents,” he recalled. “It became evident that the Department of Correctional Services had no visibility on where serious offenders were residing, whether they were being monitored, or if they were reoffending.”
The current scale—nearly 28,000 missing individuals, many with violent criminal histories—represents a significantly heightened threat. Hill-Lewis pointed to the case of EFF deputy leader Godrich Gardee, whose daughter was allegedly murdered by a person on parole, as a tragic illustration of the consequences. Gardee has initiated legal proceedings against the department over the incident.
Research by investigator Orin Singh, which helped expose the gap, indicates the department operates without a functional integrated system to track or trace released offenders. Hill-Lewis affirmed that there appear to be no dedicated resources to monitor violent parolees, despite international data confirming this group poses the highest reoffending risk.
“If it is accurate that all tracking capacity has been eliminated, that would be indefensible,” Hill-Lewis said. He outlined immediate interim steps: circulating photographs and details of missing parolees nationwide, establishing reward programs for credible tips, leveraging mobile network data to locate devices registered to offenders, and coordinating a multi-agency apprehension effort.
He also called for internal accountability, asking how supervisory officials remain in post if they failed to execute core duties. “Minister Groenewald must outline his response plan in the coming days,” Hill-Lewis urged.
For sustainable reform, the DA advocates adopting electronic monitoring technology—such as ankle or wrist bracelets, or phone-based tracking—for violent offenders, bringing South Africa in line with standard practice in developed countries. While acknowledging budgetary pressures, Hill-Lewis argued that prioritizing the most dangerous convicted criminals for monitoring is both practical and necessary. “Globally, we are lagging significantly,” he noted.
Beyond corrections, Hill-Lewis addressed the parliamentary impeachment process. He stated that the committee should advance its mandate—finalizing procedural rules, issuing subpoenas, and scheduling witness testimony—even as the president pursues a judicial review of the section 89 report. “There is no justification for pausing the committee’s work,” he said, cautioning that legal challenges should not be used to obstruct accountability.
On immigration and regional diplomatic friction, Hill-Lewis expressed empathy for concerns raised by African governments regarding official statements that could be perceived as inflammatory or xenophobic. “Public leaders must exercise responsibility. Their role is to calm tensions, not intensify them,” he said.
He commended Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber for progress in restoring a department weakened by years of dysfunction. At the same time, Hill-Lewis stressed that South Africa’s constitutional principles—commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, respect for diversity, and rejection of vigilante action—must anchor all policy and public communication. “Mob justice and extrajudicial tactics have no place in our democracy,” he concluded.
