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The release of former ANC Bay Councilor Nelson Mandela Andile Lungisa on parole this week has received mixed reactions on social media.
Lungisa was released on probation on Tuesday. just 75 days after he turned himself in to the North End Prison. He was jailed after breaking a glass water jug on the head of DA councilman Rano Kayser in 2016.
Correctional services department spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo said Lungisa was released because he was classified as a “first-time offender with a positive support system” and “responded positively to rehabilitation programs.”
Nxumalo said that Lungisa’s parole location is in line with section 73 (7) (a) of the Correctional Services Act.
He said the special remission of sentences granted by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December last year reduced Lungisa’s sentence by 12 months and benefited more than 14,000 inmates.
“This placement on probation means that Lungisa will serve the remainder of the sentence in the community corrections system, where he is expected to meet a specific set of conditions and will be subject to supervision until the sentence expires,” Nxumalo said.
While many expressed surprise at the decision, former Gauteng Prime Minister Mbhazima Shilowa said that if no law is broken by granting Lungisa parole, it is “petty” for people to point it out.
“Many people are put on probation every day by the same process without saying anything, perhaps because it is not reported or we do not know the convicts. Let’s keep the principles, ”Shilowa said.
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