The South African Council of Churches (SACC) in Limpopo has responded positively to the recent release of selected detainees from a number of prisons in the province.

"Guided by our understanding that offenders are still eligible for forgiveness, grace and pardon, the SACC welcomes the decision by Correctional Services to release on parole those convicted of minor crimes, in order to depopulate crowded prisons," said council spokesperson Rev Mautji Pataki.

He expressed special concern about the fact that some of those serving sentences were minors and young women who should be at school, and not languishing in prison. "We have found our responsibility as churches and other civil organisations to be one that takes care of these people, once they have been released - those who come out and are still lost to good social behaviour have to be embraced and taught the values that are necessary for human co-existence," Rev Pataki explained.

"We believe in a corrective rather than a punitive justice system - in this way, families can organise themselves into support groups where these convicts can be assisted to build a moral basis for their participation in family and community life," he added.

However, he said the council appreciated the government's decision not to allow those guilty of serious offences to come out through this programme. Their turn would come once their road to rehabilitation had reached a satisfactory level, he suggested.