DSC spokesperson Candice van Reenen said Simons was released under strict parole conditions, among them “eight contacts per month, which includes four visits by a monitoring official, office visits by the parolee and telephonic contact”.
He will be under house arrest.
“The parolee may not leave the magisterial district without permission,” said Van Reenen.
“[He] cannot change his confirmed address without permission [and] may not engage the media without permission. He is not permitted to use drugs and alcohol. He may not write and publish without permission.”
She said Simons “will be permitted to seek employment with permission of the community corrections office”.
“[The] DCS will hold community engagements on the matter of parole.”
‘Station Strangler’ released after 28 years in jail under ‘veil of secrecy’
Image: Anthony Molyneaux
Norman Afzal Simons, dubbed the “Station Strangler”, emerged from prison on Thursday after spending 28 years behind bars.
The 56-year-old's release on parole provoked howls of outrage from some residents in Parow, where he will live in the care of a relative under house arrest — partly due to an apparent veil of secrecy around some aspects of his release.
Many people raised concerns about the safety of their children because they do not know what Simons looks like in 2023 or where he is living in Parow.
Details of Simons' new address were not immediately released by authorities for his own safety.
Station Strangler: victim's family struggling to come to terms with killer's pending release
The former school teacher was convicted of murdering 10-year-old Elroy van Rooyen, from Strand, in 1995. Elroy was murdered as a killer terrorised the Cape Flats between 1986 and 1994.
Victims were lured from a train station, hence the “Station Strangler” tag.
Fear and suspicion peaked when 22 boys were found buried in shallow, sandy graves, face down with their hands tied behind their backs. There were signs of them being sodomised.
Image: Supplied
The department of correctional service (DCS) has been at pains to convince the Mitchells Plain and Parow communities that Simons met the requirements for release on parole.
Simons is from Mitchells Plain and taught at a local school at the time of his arrest.
Parow ward councillor Franchesca Walker said Simons was released at 7am.
“It is confirmed. I have just got off the phone from the department of correctional services. He was released this morning [Thursday] at seven o’clock and he is at the residence where he will serve his parole,” she said.
DSC spokesperson Candice van Reenen said Simons was released under strict parole conditions, among them “eight contacts per month, which includes four visits by a monitoring official, office visits by the parolee and telephonic contact”.
He will be under house arrest.
“The parolee may not leave the magisterial district without permission,” said Van Reenen.
“[He] cannot change his confirmed address without permission [and] may not engage the media without permission. He is not permitted to use drugs and alcohol. He may not write and publish without permission.”
She said Simons “will be permitted to seek employment with permission of the community corrections office”.
“[The] DCS will hold community engagements on the matter of parole.”
Cape Town's alleged Station Strangler 'to be released from jail' after 28 years
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