The furore about Tony Yengeni’s parole conditions is set to go to Parliament. Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour announced yesterday that he would be explaining his department's correctional supervision and parole system in person to the national legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services.

This is in light of what the ministry describes as “inappropriate efforts” by the DA to obtain Yengeni’s prison file and establish the details of his parole conditions. The DA has used the Promotion of Access to Information Act to try and force the ministry to release this information, a bid that has thus far been unsuccessful.

A statement issued yesterday by Balfour’s office said that individual correctional officials are responsible for correctional supervision and that “the department has not and does not hand over offender files to communities”.

With acknowledgements to Christelle du Toit and The Citizen.