Parolees gets new lease on life

Seven parolees from Grootvlei prison in Bloemfontein have received working tools to help them start their own businesses after being trained in different trades while they were inmates.

The handover ceremony was held in Bloemfontein last week. The department of correctional services (DCS) is in process of providing starter packs to ex-convicts who are on parole around the country. The purpose of this programme is to inspire the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst these parolees and enable them to cope with life after prison. These packs consist of working tools such as welding and sewing machines and building material.

So far the department has provided six starter packs in Gauteng, 10 in Kwazulu Natal, 12 in the Eastern Cape, 18 in Limpopo and 14 in the Northern Cape. The last province to be visited is the Western Cape where undisclosed number of parolees will also receive these tools.

The DCS regional commissioner of Limpopo, Pumla Mathibela, said giving parolees working tools is part of the department’s plan to integrate ex-offenders back to their communities by turning them into entrepreneurs.

“We trained them in different skills while they were still incarcerated. This project of providing parolees with needed equipment started when the department of correctional services was approached by a non-profit organisation for partnership. They came because they wanted to assist us to ensure employability of inmates after prison.

“Instead of looking for jobs, they can create their own businesses that will sustain them. Because we want this project to have an impact, we will ensure that parolees work hard to put food on their table. This will be done through a monitoring process, to check if these tools are used accordingly towards the planned goal of creating employment for these parolees,” explained Mathibela.

According to the department, the monitoring process will effective as these parolees are still serving their sentences outside the prison walls. Their parole conditions include reporting to their local police stations. There is also a supervising official of the department who is ensuring that the parolees do not violating their prescribed parole conditions.

Mathibela made a call to the communities where these parolees are released to, to support them. She added that parolees have demonstrated their remorse for what they have done and served time for their crimes, so they deserve a second chance.

“I feel absolutely ecstatic to see these parolees receiving starter pack. It reminds me of difficult process some of them had to endure to be integrated back into their community effectively. Having taught them a skill while they were still in prison, they are now able to use it to their benefit,” added the regional commissioner for the Free State and Northern Cape, Subashini Moodely.

Pieter Malan from Bloemfontein is one of the parolees who received a welding machine. “The department has given me a new start in life and the skill they have equipped me with will make a difference. But I am working for a glass and aluminum company which decided to also give me a second chance. I will use this welding machine in my spare time to make extra cash,” he said.

Malan was arrested in 2006 for culpable homicide and was sentenced to five years in prison. He served four and half years of the sentence. Malan said the victim’s family forgave him and he now has a good relationship with them.

“I still visit this family and help them where I can. The other day I helped them install a window. I show them every chance I get that I did not mean to hurt them and they have also shown me forgiveness.”