In a decisive move that has reignited the national debate over rehabilitation and justice, Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald has officially referred the decision to grant the Griekwastad murderer parole to the review board for urgent reconsideration.
The “teen killer”, now a man, has spent just over a decade behind bars for one of South Africa’s most chilling triple homicides. Nearly 14 years have passed since the blood-soaked Good Friday that forever scarred the Northern Cape town of Griekwastad with the murders of Deon Steenkamp, his wife Christel, and their teenage daughter Marthella, on the farm Naauwhoek.
The minister said in a statement on 28 January that he had referred the decision of the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) in Upington regarding the parole placement of the Griekwastad convicted murderer to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board (CSPRB) for review.
The CSPB in Upington approved the offender’s parole placement with effect from 25 March 2026 until the expiry of his sentence on 13 March 2034. Following careful consideration of the matter, the minister resolved that the decision should be subjected to a review process in accordance with the provisions of the Correctional Services Act, 111 of 1998.
‘Lawful step to ensure proper oversight’
Under section 75(8) of the Correctional Services Act: “Any decision of a Correctional Supervision and Parole Board is final, except that the Minister, the National Commissioner or the Inspecting Judge may refer the matter to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board for reconsideration, and pending the outcome of the decision of the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board, the decision of the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board is suspended.”
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The statement continued: “Accordingly, the parole placement decision taken by the CSPB in Upington is suspended pending the outcome of the review by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board, which is required to consider the full record of proceedings and either confirm or substitute the decision in accordance with the Act.”
The minister emphasised that this referral is not a determination of the merits of the case, but a lawful step to ensure that parole decisions are subjected to proper oversight, comply fully with legislative requirements, and uphold public confidence in the correctional system.
Departmental spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said they would communicate the outcome of the review process once it had been finalised.
