Disgraced South African tennis champion granted parole

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Prison authorities on Sunday confirmed that it has granted parole to disgraced rapist and former tennis champion Bob Hewitt.

The Correctional Supervision and Parole Board for St. Albans prison in the Eastern Cape, where Hewitt has been incarcerated for the past three years, stated that he will be released on September 23.

The 79-year-old will then be classified as “high risk” for the remainder of his parole period which will end on 19 September 2022.

The Australian-born sportsman was convicted of child rape and sexual assault following a high-profile trial at the South Gauteng High Court 2015. 

He was investigated following claims by his former students that he had molested them while he was coaching them in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The South African Tennis Union had launched an investigation in 1992, but no legal action was ever taken against Hewitt.

Tania Koen, a lawyer who represented two of the victims has written to the Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, as well as the Portfolio Committee on Justice in Parliament, to seek an urgent review of the decision.

If this fails, Koen intends to lodge an urgent application in the High Court.

In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. During a glittering career, he won all Grand Slam doubles titles, both in men's and mixed doubles (US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open). He also played a key role in South Africa's only Davis Cup title in 1974. He won seven titles in singles and 65 in doubles. His career prize money amounted to more than a million dollars. 

In November 2012, he was suspended from the International Tennis Hall of Fame when the allegations first surfaced

–0– PANA CU/AR 15Sept2018