TWO of the so-called "Waterkloof Four" were released from Zonderwater Prison outside Pretoria yesterday, the Department of Correctional Services said.
"They are [being] released as we speak," spokesman Zacharia Modise said at about 1.30pm.
He said Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt were at the community corrections centre where they would have to report in terms of their parole conditions.
They were among a group of four young men imprisoned for killing a homeless man and assaulting another in a park in Pretoria in 2001.
Prison authorities initially ignored the Pretoria Regional Court's order on Thursday for the release of the two under house arrest.
Modise's comments came shortly before an urgent application was about to be brought before the Pretoria High Court yesterday in a bid to force the department to abide by the ruling of the Regional Court.
He said the department did not agree that the pair be released on parole.
"We are not happy with the court order. We want to challenge this."
The group of four were each sentenced to 12 years in jail. Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk have served three years of the sentence.
The other two were being held in Pretoria Central Prison and not included in the release order.
In a statement yesterday, the department said it was complying with immediate effect with the orders of the court. It said the release was subject to conditions set by the regional court.
The conditions of Van Schalkwyk and Tiedt's release from prison are that they are under house arrest, with the exception of the 15 hours of community service they are required to perform every month.
Neither is allowed to consume alcohol. They have to be home between 6pm and 7am on weekdays on the days on which they work. On the days on which they do not work, they have to be home from 1pm to 8am.
Tiedt has to clean the Museum of Natural History for his community service, while Van Schalkwyk has to carry out his at the Bronkhorstspruit police station.
The department said Correctional Services' national commissioner, Tom Moyane, would obtain legal advice and then take a decision on how to take the matter further.
Van Schalkwyk's mother, Sarita Stonehouse, said she was "elated, absolutely elated" that her son was about to be released. "We haven't seen him yet," she said.
The decision by the Zonderwater parole board to commute their 12-year jail terms has been widely criticised.
On Friday the DA's James Selfe said the decision to release the two and place them under house arrest was made after the chairman of the Zonderwater parole board was told by the Department of Correctional Services that the recommendation was unlawful.
"In terms of a previous court decision, conversions of sentences can only occur if an inmate has less than five years remaining of his or her sentence," he said.
'Waterkloof 2' out on parole
TWO of the so-called "Waterkloof Four" were released from Zonderwater Prison outside Pretoria yesterday, the Department of Correctional Services said.
"They are [being] released as we speak," spokesman Zacharia Modise said at about 1.30pm.
He said Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt were at the community corrections centre where they would have to report in terms of their parole conditions.
They were among a group of four young men imprisoned for killing a homeless man and assaulting another in a park in Pretoria in 2001.
Prison authorities initially ignored the Pretoria Regional Court's order on Thursday for the release of the two under house arrest.
Modise's comments came shortly before an urgent application was about to be brought before the Pretoria High Court yesterday in a bid to force the department to abide by the ruling of the Regional Court.
He said the department did not agree that the pair be released on parole.
"We are not happy with the court order. We want to challenge this."
The group of four were each sentenced to 12 years in jail. Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk have served three years of the sentence.
The other two were being held in Pretoria Central Prison and not included in the release order.
In a statement yesterday, the department said it was complying with immediate effect with the orders of the court. It said the release was subject to conditions set by the regional court.
The conditions of Van Schalkwyk and Tiedt's release from prison are that they are under house arrest, with the exception of the 15 hours of community service they are required to perform every month.
Neither is allowed to consume alcohol. They have to be home between 6pm and 7am on weekdays on the days on which they work. On the days on which they do not work, they have to be home from 1pm to 8am.
Tiedt has to clean the Museum of Natural History for his community service, while Van Schalkwyk has to carry out his at the Bronkhorstspruit police station.
The department said Correctional Services' national commissioner, Tom Moyane, would obtain legal advice and then take a decision on how to take the matter further.
Van Schalkwyk's mother, Sarita Stonehouse, said she was "elated, absolutely elated" that her son was about to be released. "We haven't seen him yet," she said.
The decision by the Zonderwater parole board to commute their 12-year jail terms has been widely criticised.
On Friday the DA's James Selfe said the decision to release the two and place them under house arrest was made after the chairman of the Zonderwater parole board was told by the Department of Correctional Services that the recommendation was unlawful.
"In terms of a previous court decision, conversions of sentences can only occur if an inmate has less than five years remaining of his or her sentence," he said.
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