“Correction is a societal responsibility” - Mathibela

Thohoyandou Correctional Centre recently formed part of the National Portfolio Committee's visit to different government departments.

The National Portfolio Committee visit forms part of a service delivery assessment of all government departments. The committee, which is functioning under the chairmanship of Ms Chana Pilane-Majake, visted the visited the medium B, female and juvenile centres respectively.

“During their visit, the portfolio committee learnt that the Thohoyandou Management Area renders different rehabilitation programmes to offenders in terms of production workshops and agriculture, stemming from welding, capentry, needlework, textile, wood and steel,” the Thohoyandou management area's spokesperson, Mr Tshifhiwa Magadani, said.

During her welcome address at the centre, the Chief Deputy Commissioner of Community  Corrections, Ms Phumla Mathibela, stated that the social reintegration of inmates formed an important part of the departmental mandate. She added that the department could not function on its own and she requested all departments and communities to join hands with them "to achieve our mandate of rehabilitation of offenders in secure and humane conditions. As a department we say, correction is a societal responsibility."

After touring the prison, the delegates and senior correctional officers engaged in a comment- and information-sharing session, where portfolio committee members addressed the gathering about their take on the facility. “I can safely say that the integrity of the prison is still there,” Adv Thomas Bongo said. “And I am impressed about what I have seen here: the cleanliness of the institutions was second to none. However, the overcrowding and water shortage are a concern.”

Date:05 December 2014

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Read: 1093