Goldin, Bloom killing: DA against parole

2011-11-03 19:57

Cape Town - An application for parole by Nurshad Davids, who was convicted for his part in the murders of Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom, should be rejected, the Democratic Alliance said in Parliament on Thursday.

Davids was convicted in 2006, and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. He has now applied for parole after serving five years and five months of his sentence, and is set to appear before the Drakenstein parole board on November 16.

Goldin, an actor, and his friend Bloom, were shot execution-style in Cape Town in April 2006, after they were robbed, assaulted and their vehicle hijacked.

The callous nature of the murders attracted massive national and international media coverage.

"The brutal execution-style murder of Goldin and Bloom devastated not only his family and friends, but also shocked the international theatre community, and grievously damaged South Africa's reputation," DA prisons spokesperson MP James Selfe told MPs.

‘Inappropriately lenient’

He said the sentence handed down to Davids was "inappropriately lenient" given the nature of the crime for which he was convicted.

"Under the circumstances, it is equally shocking that this offender has applied for parole."

While the DA accepted that the Parole Board was an independent body, which based its decisions on the seriousness of the offence and the degree to which offenders had been rehabilitated, "we want to express our outrage that this application for parole was even lodged".

Granting parole to Davids would send an entirely inappropriate message.

"It would signify that we do not regard cold-blooded murder as an offence for which a long period of imprisonment is the only fitting punishment."

Parole should be refused in this case, Selfe said.

- SAPA