The suggestion sparked a debate among MPs.
PA MP Marlon Daniels argued the death penalty would be more suitable for those sentenced for murder.
“Corporal punishment is mildly put. Bring back the death penalty. You kill someone, be prepared to be killed.”
Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana said alternative rehabilitation methods should be introduced.
“We need to be innovative. It’s not corporal punishment we need; it’s community service,” Gana said.
“There are many inmates housed in correctional service facilities who shouldn’t be there. Let’s send them to work in communities for free instead of introducing corporal punishment. Let them clean the streets and pay for the crimes they committed.”
Groenewald has previously said some inmates serving life sentences could be denied parole despite completing all required rehabilitation programmes.
He said: “The parolees I work with are lifers. You can have a parolee or applicant for parole who went through all the rehabilitation courses and the whole process, but then you get a psychologist’s report and a criminologist’s report and in the reports it is determined what is the risk of the applicant reoffending.”
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