Nofemela a free man

By Khanyisa Tabata
28 August 2009

Correctional Services Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has approved parole for apartheid-era police hit squad member, Butana Almond Nofemela, after 22 years in prison.

It has been reported that Mapisa- Nqakula emphasised that the decision was taken after broad consultations with legal practitioners.

Nofemela was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of farmer Johannes Lourens near Brits.

The sentence was later changed to life imprisonment. He also confessed to killing human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge in 1981 and Zwelibanzi Nyanda.

He was granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for his confession which led to the exposure of the Vlakplaas police hit squad.

The decision comes after the chairperson of the NCCS, Judge Siraj Desai, submitted recommendations for Nofemela's parole to Minister Mapisa-Nqakula, earlier this month.

The council recommended that Nofemela be granted parole, provided the Department of Correctional Services refers him to an appropriate agency for psycho-social support for the purposes of assisting him with reintegration.It also recommended that he undergo the usual pre-release programmes and that he does not have access to firearms.

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