Community braces for release of ‘Station Strangler’

Norman Simons, accused but not convicted of being the Station Strangler, will be subjected to stringent parole conditions when he is released on Thursday. This was the commitment from the Department of Correctional Services yesterday at a community meeting with Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, residents to discuss his imminent release. News24 reports the Mitchells Plain teacher was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Elroy van Rooyen in 1995. He was suspected of being a serial killer after the bodies of 22 boys were found in shallow graves between 1986 and 1994. However, he was only tried and sentenced in 1995 for snatching and murdering Van Rooyen. The head of community corrections for the Bellville area, Ronnie Bila, said Simons would be under house arrest 24 hours a day. He will not be allowed close to children and an official from the department would visit his residence eight times per month. Simons will also not be allowed to speak to the media unless he makes an application to the department for permission. Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum chairperson Norman Jantjies told residents that the news of Simons being granted parole had opened an old wound. Simons was sentenced to 25 years for Van Rooyen's murder and 10 years for kidnapping. His sentence was increased to life after a failed appeal bid. He has been behind bars for 28 years.

Full News24 report

Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo on Friday said ‘parole consideration has become emotive as some question its application and the harm endured by the victims of crime’. ‘Simons was considered for parole placement, in compliance with the Correctional Services Act,’ Nxumalo said. The Mail & Guardian reports Nxumalo said the department would engage with the Mitchells Plain community on the parole placement and ‘the subsequent role (residents) play within the community corrections system and to the victims at large’. Abie Isaacs, the chairperson of the Cape Flats Safety Forum, said the group held the view that Simons ‘has done his time in the correctional facility’ and hoped that the state would maintain the parole conditions set out for him.

Full Mail & Guardian report