Victims to get their say on Hewitt parole

The victims of rapist and former tennis star Bob Hewitt will be given an opportunity to make representations to have his release on parole overturned. According to Tania Koen, the lawyer who represented two of the three survivors, a date has been set for 21 October. On 15 September, Minister of Justice & Correctional Services Ronald Lamola instructed National Commissioner of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser to review the decision to release Hewitt on parole. This, according to News24, came after it reported that a letter from the chairperson of the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board for St Albans stated that Hewitt would be released on 23 September. This decision followed an application to the board on 13 August. Hewitt (79) was convicted of the rape of two young women and the sexual assault of another whom he coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Koen says she and law firm Eversheds-Sutherland, which represents one of the victims, received a notice from the Department of Correctional Services on 4 October that an ‘extension has been granted’ by the head office for representations on 14 October. ‘They only gave five business days' notice, which is inadequate and unreasonable as it does not give sufficient time for our clients to prepare and make arrangements to personally appear if they chose to do so,’ Koen said. However, after approaching Deputy Minister of Correctional Services, Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa, the date was pushed out to 21 October. But, says Koen, all they have so far is a date. ‘We've received nothing in writing. We don't know yet what they want us to make representations on. We're waiting for the written correspondence.'

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