By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
The Department of Correctional Services has confirmed the release of former Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli on parole.
Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo says Mdluli was considered for parole after serving a third of his sentence due to the fact that the crime was committed in 1998.
Nxumalo says the minimum detention period for Mdluli was on 28 May 2022, but he could not be considered for parole placement at the time due to a pending court case.
Mdluli was serving a five-year sentence for the kidnapping and assault of his former lover Tshidi Buthelezi, her husband Oupa Ramogibe, and a friend Alice Manana, in 1998.
“This decision was taken by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board, having assessed Mdluli’s profile and other material submitted for the purposes of parole consideration.
“He will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections, whereby he is expected to comply with specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision until his sentence expires,” says Nxumalo.
Mdluli, while still serving a prison sentence for the kidnapping and assault, had applied for bail in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in an apparent attempt to get parole.
He was then granted bail of R10 000 in his slush fund corruption case.
Mdluli is an accused – along with former supply chain manager Heine Barnard and former chief financial officer Solomon Lazarus – in a corruption, fraud and theft case relating to the alleged looting of a police slush fund between 2008 and 2012 when the three were at the helm of Crime Intelligence.