Louise Ruzzier had been under correctional supervision for more than a year after a culpable homicide conviction when her parole officer called her on Monday with good news.
She is one of more than 9,000 prisoners who received special remission of sentences signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on August 11, in a bid to reduce overcrowding in prisons.
Prisoners are being released from correctional services centres across the country.
All sentenced offenders, those under correctional supervision and parolees, are being granted a remission of 12 months. Sexual offenders, those sentenced for tampering with, destroying or damaging of essential infrastructure, offenders declared as dangerous by the court and those serving life sentence are excluded.
Among the first to benefit was former president Jacob Zuma, who was released on August 11 after just 65 minutes back in jail.
I’m just a woman who wants to go on with her life. What happened to me was just a tragic accident. I did not see the guy [on the bike]. I would tell anyone to be more vigilant on the road.
— Louise Ruzzier
On Tuesday, Ruzzier, 45, had her exit interview which lasted just five minutes.
“They took my fingerprints and I signed a document, then they asked about my experience under correctional supervision. It was quick and I just said thank you very much. Bye,” she said with a smile.
To celebrate her freedom, Ruzzier had a facial and joined a boxing gym — something she had been longing to do for some time.
Despite being set free, Ruzzier, who is a singer, said she will continue to volunteer at the Boksburg SPCA, where she was doing her community service.
“I love the animals and I just want to help ... the SPCA needs as much volunteering as possible,” she said.
Ruzzier was convicted of culpable homicide after she crashed into a biker in 2016.
She was only summonsed to appear in court in March 2022, and the Boksburg magistrate’s court later sentenced her to two years of correctional supervision. She had to do 384 hours of community service at Boksburg SPCA as part of her sentence. At the time of her release, she had served just more than a year. She was only allowed to be at home, at the SPCA or at a performance.
Ruzzier has been a professional singer for 25 years and was allowed to continue doing this while under correctional supervision.
“If I had to leave Gauteng, I had to go to the office for an interview with a contract from my client specifying where I was going. Outside Gauteng, I first had to check in at a local police station and also check out at that police station when I left the area.
“I was fortunate that the Boksburg correctional services were good to me. So long as you comply and communicate with them, they are always happy to assist you. They are reasonable people.”
She said being under correctional supervision was not easy.
“It was difficult because I could not go to the shops. I could not go to the gym and could not visit family. People had to come and visit me.
“I’m just a woman who wants to go on with her life. What happened to me was just a tragic accident. I did not see the guy [on the bike]. I would tell anyone to be more vigilant on the road,” she said.
She said after the accident, she had struggled emotionally and had to go to trauma counselling. When she thought she was done with the trauma, then came the call from the detective and she had to go back for therapy.
“For six years I had moved on with my life and never heard anything from the police, and then last year I got this call to report to the detective’s office. Everything in me went cold.”
In December 2019, Ramaphosa approved a special remission of sentence for low-risk prisoners and 30,838 benefited. Of those, 31 reoffended
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said the department’s priority was to release members of “vulnerable groups”, including pregnant women, the elderly and the disabled.
Zuma was released on medical parole in September 2021 by former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser. He had served less than two months of the 15-month sentence handed to him by the Constitutional Court for contempt after he failed to obey a summons to appear before the state capture commission.
Fraser’s decision was set aside by the courts and the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled it was up to the corrections commissioner to determine whether the time Zuma spent on medical parole could be considered in determining how much more time he should spend in prison.
According to Nxumalo, prisoners classified as low-risk will be granted an additional 12 months of special remission. This means offenders sentenced for non-violent crimes such as housebreaking, theft and fraud will qualify for 24 months’ remission.
In December 2019, Ramaphosa approved a special remission of sentence for low-risk prisoners and 30,838 benefited. Of those, 31 reoffended.
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