The department of correctional services says Leigh Matthews' murderer, Donovan Moodley, has been eligible for parole since June 2018. 

Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo briefed the media on Friday about the procedures and factors when considering parole.

“The procedure is that representations must go to the national council for correctional services [and] eventually to the minister. It can be in a written form or orally, so if it's orally we still have to document everything,” he said.

Nxumalo said Moodley had completed the minimum period of his sentence in 2018 and had been eligible for parole since then.

Nxumalo said the national council for correctional services is concerned about whether the perpetrator shows remorse.  

Matthews was kidnapped and murdered in 2004 and Moodley was convicted a year later. Matthews' family had paid R50,000 ransom but she was not released. Her parents want Moodley to remain behind bars. 

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