Cape Town – Former police officer Marius van der Westhuizen, who is serving a 24-year prison term for killing his three children, has had his hopes of being freed on parole dashed.
While he was acting station commander at Claremont Police Station in 2006, Van der Westhuizen killed his children in front of his wife, Charlotte, at their home in Brackenfell, in the Western Cape.
Last month, Van der Westhuizen was granted parole as of 31 July 2024 when he appeared – for the third time – before the Parole Board and Correctional Supervision (CSPB) at the Malmesbury Correctional Centre.
However, on Thursday, (25 July 2024), the Department of Correctional Services said it had studied the report of the CSPB on the parole placement of Van der Westhuizen and directed that it be reviewed.
“This decision implies that the previously scheduled parole placement date of 31 July 2024 is now irrelevant as a review process is to be initiated following Section 77(1) of the Correctional Services Act, 111 of 1998,” the department said.
“According to this section, a Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board (CSPRB) will be constituted by members drawn from the National Council of Correctional Services and it is to be chaired by a Judge.”
The CSPRB is an empowered structure authorized to review the decisions of the CSPB if a submission is made by the Minister of Correctional Services, the Commissioner of Correctional Services, or the Inspecting Judge.
The department said it was in the interest of justice to scrutinise the process followed and the assessment reports in the profile of Van der Westhuizen.
“As mandated by Section 75(8) of the Correctional Services Act, referring this matter for a review by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board suspends any date of placement for inmate Van der Westhuizen,” the department said.
