Chapter 5

PROGRAMMES AND INITIATIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA

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For practical reasons, the focus of this section is on services rendered by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs). As indicated before, the purpose is not to provide an extensive audit of offender reintegration programmes and services in South Africa, but rather to look at certain key themes in offender reintegration, and specifically programme design. A limited number of programmes were therefore chosen to highlight important features.

There are a number of offender reintegration services available in South Africa, but these are fairly isolated and mostly do not provide a comprehensive service that starts in prison and continues until after release. Very few, if any, analytical studies have been conducted to evaluate their impact and it is therefore difficult to make any assessment of the effectiveness of these services, apart from relying on anecdotal information. Nonetheless, there are a number of interesting and creative initiatives that warrant thorough evaluation in due course. The current public and political opinion on crime in South Africa is strongly turned against creative and constructive approaches towards offenders, and rather favours a ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ approach. Public opinion also holds that prison should be an extremely unpleasant experience and that prisoners should be made to suffer there. It is not surprising that existing offender reintegration programmes struggle to convince the public and decision makers of the merits of such services.

In South Africa, there is no real tradition of offender reintegration services that start in prison and continue after people are released. Within prisons, the emphasis has always been on security, and for this reason, prisons have been closed to other agents who may wish to render services there. The political role of prisons and the military tradition of the prison system under the previous regime prevented, in general, the development of any significant body of indigenous research or programme knowledge. To a large extent, offender reintegration programmes that are currently offered by CBOs and NGOs, as well as the recent policy formulations of the Department of Correctional Services, are travelling in uncharted waters. Programmes developed in other parts of the world can be used and applied here, but this should be done with circumspection. The socio-economic, political and cultural differences between South Africa and the United Kingdom or the United States, for example, are apparent. The nature of imprisonment and consequently its effects on individuals are different. It would be wiser to identify appropriate principles for programme design and development, and to translate these into practical programmes that are relevant and applicable to the South African context. The political, policy and legislative frameworks in other countries are also different. Such frameworks have a direct bearing on how offender reintegration is approached.

Services provided by the following organisations are discussed below:

National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO)

Common Prisoners Rehabilitation Agency (COMPRA)

South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights (SAPOHR)

Prison Fellowship International (PFI)

Gauteng Rehabilitation Trust (GRT)

Khulisa

Learn and Earn Trust.

National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders

The National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO) is a non-governmental organisation established in 1910 as a prisoners’ friend organisation. The organisation now renders services to both victims of crime and offenders, and has established an entrepreneurial development project. NICRO has offices in all nine provinces and a total staff component of 220 of whom approximately 40 focus exclusively on offender reintegration.

Working for Water Project

As part of its poverty eradication programme, the government through the Department of Social Development made funds available to NICRO to provide temporary employment for 500 former prisoners in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Working for Water Project. In terms of this programme, Working for Water would employ these former prisoners for 60 days while NICRO would provide training, education and support services with the aim to move clients to become economically self-sustainable. The work required by the project entails the removal of alien vegetation by means of slashers and other manual equipment. It is by all standards physically demanding work.

The goal and objectives of the project were formulated as the following:51

"Goal

To facilitate the reintegration of ex-prisoners into society through the provision of contract employment that is supported by access to economic empowerment training and financial assistance.

Objectives


To identify, screen and select ex-prisoners in accordance with the appropriate WFW selection criteria to be employed as contract workers with the Working for Water Programme to a total of 500 beneficiaries.



To prepare selected clients (ex-prisoners) sufficiently to make maximum use of their temporary employment to improve their longer term economic prospects.



To expose clients to the opportunities of self-employment.



To place selected clients for a two month period with the WFW Programme of the Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry as contract workers on poverty relief.



To develop and support individual career paths for each client placed.



To render additional support services and training to clients and staff of the WWP that will facilitate the reintegration of ex-prisoners.



To provide training and support to WWP staff to work with ex-prisoners.



To monitor and follow-up on clients that have participated in the project.



To develop a model for inter-sectoral co-operation between NICRO, the Dept. of Welfare and the WFW programme.

This particular initiative will be a partnership between NICRO and the Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Working for Water Programme. NICRO clients (ex-prisoners) will be screened and selected to be placed on the WWP programme for a sixty day period. Prior to their placement with WWP they will be prepared for employment and be exposed to other opportunities and resources in order to get maximum benefit from the contract employment with the WWP. The overall aim is that the clients use the contract employment to improve their economic situation on the long term. Following the contract employment, (suitable) clients will be referred to NICRO’s Economic Opportunity Project where they receive business skills training, access to finance and continued business support."

Provincial quotas for the distribution of programme participants were developed based on the capacity of the Working for Water project to absorb additional employees. NICRO and the project developed selection criteria to assist in selecting appropriate clients:

The client has to be unemployed.



The client has to be willing to perform the work required by the project.



The client must not pose an unnecessary risk to other project employees working in the field.



The client has to live in close proximity to a worksite or pick-up point to avoid unnecessary expenses on transport.



Youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years are particularly targeted.

Figure 2 sets out the route of a client through the programme. The programme was designed in such a way that maximum value is added during temporary employment, so that clients can use this as a stepping stone to move on to a more permanent position, on the assumption that further skills development would increase their chances of finding employment, or of developing their own business:

Screening and selection: The programme aims to select participants who are about to be released as well as those who have already been released. For those about to be released, a basic release preparation programme is presented.



Employment preparation: This phase entails preparing former offenders for employment through the Empowerment for Employment programme, as well as providing basic orientation in terms of what is expected of an employee with regard to rights and responsibilities.



Developing individual career paths: Developing a course of action for the client is crucial to the programme as employment is only temporary. The purpose is to develop a plan in co-operation with the client in terms of what will happen after placement in the project. Attention is also given to the client’s family, educational and emotional needs.



Placement with the Working for Water project: The client is placed for 60 days with the project. Upon arrival, the client will undergo an induction process where the work is explained, as well as the rules and regulations guiding employment in the project.



On/off-time training: Some project sites operate according to an on-time, off-time schedule (for example, two weeks working and one week off), which means that workers have time available to participate in training activities. In this regard, a whole range of possibilities have been identified.



Business awareness workshops: Given the difficulties that former offenders experience in finding employment in the formal sector, the emphasis is placed on entrepreneurial development. The workshops serve as a mechanism that simulates the day-to-day events in a micro-business in order to identify those clients who have the skills or feeling for business, but also to deselect those for whom this is not a suitable option.



Termination of placement: Once the client has completed employment with the project, three options are available. Firstly, the client may be employed on a project contract team; secondly, the client may be referred to another service agency, for example, for vocational training; and thirdly, if the client complies with the selection for further entrepreneurial training, he or she may enrol in the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) training course. Clients who have completed this training will have access to micro-financing through NICRO Enterprise Finance.

Although implementation of the programme was delayed for various reasons, it started in June 1999 in the Western Cape. A longitudinal evaluation of the programme is in process at six-monthly intervals over an 18-month period. This will assist in developing baseline data on offender reintegration programmes in South Africa.

Preliminary results of the programme are encouraging:

A very low drop-out rate by placed clients has been reported. Only in a few instances did clients not complete their full 60-day employment cycle.



Interviews with clients revealed that they were strongly motivated to work and were satisfied with the type of work they were doing, as well as with the work environment.



A number of clients reported that the fact that they were employed, improved their self-image and social stature in their community of origin.



All clients interviewed stated that a period of 60-days employment was too short and that a longer period would have been more helpful.



Despite a few minor incidents that were handled through the project’s disciplinary procedures, clients did not present any significant employer-employee relationship problems and, in some instances, were preferred to other potential employees.



In KwaZulu-Natal, community structures participated actively in selecting the appropriate individuals to be employed and even though they selected wider than the prescribed criteria, their participation in itself was regarded as a positive development.



To the knowledge of the programme managers, none of the placed clients were rearrested while participating in the project.



A substantial number of clients were trained in entrepreneurial skills and also made use of other support services.

While the project has been promising during its initial implementation, the true test will be the quality and impact of the follow-through support services. From a programme design point of view, the project presents a number of interesting features:

It is a tripartite collaborative venture between two government departments and an NGO as the three primary national roleplayers. Strong institutional support was therefore given to the project.



On a provincial level, the Department of Correctional Services, as well as other roleplayers (NGOs, CBOs, traditional leaders) have become involved.



The service design is of such a nature that it has a number of fixed features, as outlined in the above diagram, but substantial discretion is left to the client to decide how he or she wants to proceed.



The fact that the client has guaranteed temporary employment is also a unique feature of the programme, with the result that clients can experience the immediate personal satisfaction and economic benefits of employment.

A significant shortcoming of the project was that, due to the timeframes that applied, it was impossible to become involved with potential clients prior to their release from prison in order to implement a more comprehensive programme that would specifically focus on developing support structures.

Economic Opportunities Project and NICRO Enterprise Finance

Realising that it is extremely difficult for former offenders to find employment in the formal sector, NICRO decided in 1996 to move away from a job placement service for released prisoners to an entrepreneurial development service through its Economic Opportunities Project (EOP). Initially working with the Start-Up Fund training package and access to finance, it changed to the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) course of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1997. Problems were still experienced with access to finance. Former offenders find it difficult to access financing through the formal banking sector for two reasons: firstly, the banks consider them too high a risk, and secondly, the amounts of finance they require are too small for the banking sector to show any real interest in this field.

In view of this, NICRO formed its own micro-financing company, NICRO Enterprise Finance (NEF), a registered Section 21 company, in 1998, to cater for clients of the organisation. Clients become eligible for a loan after they have completed the ILO SIYB course presented by NICRO staff, and after submitting a business plan to the NEF for approval. Loans normally start at R750, but can increase to R6 000 depending on the performance and viability of the business.

While EOP staff provide non-financial support services, such as developing the business plan, assisting in the loan application and aftercare services, the NEF provides the financial support services by making finance available and providing advice on the financial administration of the business.

Although the EOP and NEF are not strictly offender reintegration services, such as those described elsewhere, they form an important link in moving former offenders to a position where they can sustain themselves and do not have to return to crime for survival. As a client of NICRO, former offenders also have access to the organisation’s other services. These services are important components of the holistic approach subscribed to by the organisation.

In the first two years of operation, the NEF performed well and has met or exceeded its performance requirements. The loan repayments vary between 55% and 75%, indicating that clients are committed to their businesses and that these are performing sufficiently in order to service the loan. The actual contribution made by the EOP and NEF services to offender reintegration is as yet unknown, but if the financial indicators are used, it appears that former offenders are utilising these services and benefiting from them.

Education

It is well-documented that improved education decreases the chances of reoffending. With this in mind, NICRO established a bursary fund in the early 1990s for sentenced prisoners who wish to improve their skills in fields that would increase their potential of finding employment upon release. Preference is given to those prisoners who will be released in the near future (two to three years), as well as those who are applying for courses that would provide them with skills which would give them better access to employment. Prisoners are requested, if possible, to make some contribution to their own study expenses, while NICRO supports the balance.

Bursaries are awarded once a year after applications are received by the end of November. After confirming details with the Department of Correctional Services, NICRO staff interview all applicants at the various prisons to verify that the information is correct and that the prisoner is, in fact, applying his or her skills in the right direction. Where appropriate, attention is also given to other issues that the prisoner may wish to address such as family matters.

Every year, NICRO receives 500 bursary applications on average and bursaries to the value of R90 000 were awarded for the 1999 academic year. In 1998, Home Study College (a distance education institution) and NICRO formed a partnership to assist prisoners who want to study further. In terms of this agreement, NICRO pays the registration fees of successful applicants, and Home Study College makes the course material available as a bursary. Since Home Study College and NICRO joined forces for the education of prisoners, 60 prisoners have enrolled as students of the college and have already successfully completed their courses.

NICRO Creative Arts Awards

The NICRO Creative Arts Awards were established in 1997 to provide prisoners with the opportunity to express themselves artistically. Although art and creative writing in themselves cannot be regarded as offender reintegration programmes, these activities provide prisoners with the opportunity to express themselves and apply their talents. The therapeutic merits of the arts are well-known and documented. The competition includes ten different categories: painting, pottery, recycled material, matchstick construction, sculpture, woodwork, leatherwork, needlework and sewing, poetry and prose. The Koestler Arts Awards, similar to the NICRO competition, have been running in the United Kingdom since 1960 with great success.

In 1999, the NICRO Creative Arts Awards attracted 291 entries from 36 prisons countrywide. Three prizes plus two merit awards are rewarded in each of the categories and, when possible, the Department of Correctional Services allows the prizewinning prisoners to attend the award ceremony and receive their prizes in person. For many prisoners, this is a deeply moving experience.

Diversion programmes

Diversion programmes are not offender reintegration programmes like those described earlier where the focus is placed on assisting prisoners and released prisoners. Diversion programmes essentially try to prevent people who have offended from being imprisoned by providing alternatives to prosecution and convictions. A brief review of diversion programmes is therefore justified in this context as it shares some of the principles and methods used in prison-associated offender reintegration programmes.

Diversion from the criminal justice system has a dual function in that it, firstly, prevents further exposure to the rigours of the criminal justice process, and secondly, attempts to prevent further offending by providing a variety of options. Diversion programmes are primarily used for juvenile offenders, although adults occasionally also benefit from this service.

The first formal diversion programmes were established in the early 1990s by NICRO and Lawyers for Human Rights in Pietermaritzburg and shortly thereafter by NICRO, the then Office of the Attorney-General and the Department of Welfare in Cape Town. In both instances, roleplayers were concerned about the number of children being convicted often for petty offences and receiving a meaningless sanction from the court such as a suspended or postponed sentence. This type of sentence has little educational or preventive impact on an individual who does not fully comprehend the functioning of the criminal justice system.

Since these interventions, NICRO has developed five structured diversion programmes, which are available to the courts:

Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES): This is a six-part life skills programme running over six weeks for one afternoon per week. The programme normally involves 15 to 25 participants. Parents or guardians participate in the first and last sessions. A variety of issues are addressed such as conflict resolution, crime and the law, parent-child relationships and responsible decisionmaking. The programme can be used as a pretrial diversion, or as part of a postponed or deferred sentence.



Pretrial community service: In lieu of prosecution, the offender has to perform a number of hours of community service at a non-profit organisation. The number of hours are determined by NICRO in consultation with the public prosecutor. NICRO also monitors the performance of the client and reports to the prosecutor. On average, these clients have to perform between 20 and 60 hours of community service.



Victim offender mediation: This programme creates the opportunity for the victim and the offender to meet and work out a mutually acceptable agreement with the assistance of a mediator (from NICRO) with the aim of restoring the balance. Once an agreement is reached, this is reported to the prosecutor and the contract is then monitored by NICRO.



Family group conferences: These conferences are similar to mediation in certain instances, except that they involve the families of both the victim and the offender in the mediation process. The aim is to come to an agreement with the assistance of a mediator or facilitator. Preventing recidivism is an important component of family group conferences and they have to establish plans that will prevent further offending. The involvement of ‘significant others’ is central to the process.



The Journey: The Journey programme is aimed at high-risk children and juveniles. The programme can last between three and 12 months depending on the needs of the client group. The programme is usually structured around a group of 10 to 15 participants. The participants are normally school dropouts with one or more previous convictions. The programme involves life skills training, adventure education and vocational skills training.

In 1999/2000, more than 10 000 young people benefited from the diversion programmes. The question is often asked whether diversion is effective, and whether it has a longer term impact apart from the immediate benefits to the parties concerned. A follow-up survey in 1998 of 468 NICRO juvenile diversion clients countrywide found that only 6.7% reoffended in the first 12 months after attending a diversion programme.52 The average time lapse from attending the programme to reoffending was 7.2 months. The research was also able to create a fairly detailed profile of diversion programme participants: the typical client is male, aged between 15 and 17 years, a first offender charged with a property offence, who resides with his parents and is in his second or third year of secondary schooling. The majority of clients (83.4%) were originally referred for property offences such as shoplifting, theft, or malicious damage to property. The compliance rate with the conditions of the diversion programme, including attendance and completion, is also very high, varying between 74% and 90%.

The study also collected feedback on programme content and found that nearly all participants interviewed had a favourable opinion of the programme they attended and regarded it as a memorable experience. Experiential and adventure education techniques appear to have made a lasting impression on programme participants. The majority of participants indicated that they experienced a positive personal change after attending the diversion programme, with the emphasis on more responsible decisionmaking.

Common Prisoners Rehabilitation Agency

The Common Prisoners Rehabilitation Agency (COMPRA) was founded in 1994 by five former prisoners.53 Currently, it provides services at the following prisons in Gauteng: Pretoria Central, Pretoria Local, Verhoogte, Boksburg and Leeuwkop. The organisation has 4 000 registered members, all of whom are released prisoners. It focuses its services on pre-release programmes with a lesser focus on post-release interventions. The organisation receives no government support and is dependent on income generated through the work of its members.

The organisation is primarily involved with prisoners who are to be released in approximately 12 months, mainly through the presentation of motivational workshops. The workshops encourage prisoners to make use of opportunities in prisons such as other programmes. Other issues that are addressed include reasons for imprisonment, the improvement of education, the mental approach to imprisonment and gangsterism. The workshops are facilitated by former prisoners who facilitate communication with the participants on the basis of personal knowledge and experience of the effects of imprisonment.

The workshops normally involve 10 to 20 prisoners, although those conducted in Mpumalanga can have as many as 600 to 1 000 prisoners participating. Each workshop includes new participants. Workshops can last from one to several hours. Usually, facilitators share their experiences as prisoners and provide details of their work with COMPRA, after which they engage the prisoners in discussions.

Once prisoners are released, the organisation assists them in finding employment. In addition, a counselling service is also provided. COMPRA also renders a support service to juveniles on parole and encourages them to continue with their educational pursuits.

COMPRA has a great advantage over some other organisations in the offender reintegration field in that it has strong support from former prisoners. From a programme design perspective, this is a real asset as it brings to the programme a wealth of knowledge and experience in terms of what prisoners will face upon release, and the effects of imprisonment. Many offender reintegration programmes are designed by people who have not spent a single day behind bars. It must be accepted that this will have an impact on the type of programme that is developed. This does not imply that such programmes will necessarily be weaker or inadequate, but merely that they will lack the intimate knowledge and experience that only people who have experienced imprisonment can bring.

The COMPRA programme in Mpumalanga shows a familiar error in offender reintegration programmes and social development programmes, in general, namely that quantity is regarded as more important than quality. It is difficult to see how a ‘workshop’ with 600 to 1 000 participants can have any real impact, or at least more impact than a speech presented to a large group of people. The COMPRA programme suffers further from another common problem: there is no apparent structured continuity between different sessions. Every workshop includes new participants which makes it difficult to monitor progress and build upon what has already been achieved. For a programme to have maximum impact, it is essential that participants can embark on a personal growth process and that there are continuous cross-references to issues that have already been dealt with. For the participants, it is important to know where they are in the programme and not to be taken back to issues they feel have already been dealt with because there are new participants in the group. Working with one fixed group and dealing with issues as a group have the further benefit of holding the group accountable for behaviour, decisions and commitments that have already been agreed upon.

South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights

Founded in 1988, the South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights (SAPOHR) is primarily a human rights organisation and monitors human rights violations in prisons.54 The organisation serves all prisons in the Gauteng area. There is no official agreement of recognition between SAPOHR and the Department of Correctional Services, and SAPOHR does not have access to the prisons like some of the other NGOs working in the offender reintegration field.

SAPOHR has approximately 40 000 members nationally and consists of offenders and former offenders. The organisation provides paralegal services, undertakes case studies and provides its members with a newsletter. Prisoners elect representatives from their ranks to liase with the SAPOHR office.

In addition to monitoring human rights violations and paralegal services, SAPOHR assists families of prisoners by tracing prisoners after they have been transferred. In 1998 the organisation formed the Parent Support Committee and it currently has about 50 active members. Many families of prisoners alleged that they were badly treated by Correctional Services officials when visiting prisons. Out of fear of being victimised, these complaints are not taken up by the families and the Parent Support Group provides a forum to address these issues.

The political and public opinion around prisoners is unfortunately of such a nature that strong lobbying and advocacy are required to stem the increasingly unsympathetic attitude towards prisoners. Striking a balance between prisoners’ rights and the rights of victims is a delicate matter that requires the utmost sensitivity for the people and the issues involved. Restorative justice or balanced justice, as it is sometimes referred to, has attempted to bring the rights (and responsibilities) of offenders and victims closer in order to create a more symbiotic relationship between the two through, for example, victim-offender mediation. Although such programmes have been implemented in South Africa, these have never taken off as a widely used option in the criminal justice system, nor as a reintegrative or therapeutic technique. Even with juvenile offenders mediation has been used on a limited scale.

The establishment of a Judicial Inspectorate for Prisons in terms of the 1998 Correctional Services Act indicates, at least, the government’s acknowledgement that prisons present a human rights dilemma of such a nature and magnitude that the establishment of a permanent judicial inquiry is warranted. The first report by the inspecting judge was due for release during the 2000 parliamentary sitting.

Apart from SAPOHR, there are no other NGOs in South Africa that focus exclusively on the human rights of prisoners. A human rights-based approach in offender reintegration is essential and is the first step in successful reintegration. It is crucial that prisoners and former prisoners acknowledge their rights and responsibilities, but society should also acknowledge these. Society has to acknowledge that a prisoner has served his or her term and has a right not to be further punished for the crime that was committed through social and economic exclusion. It is after all society that has a vested interest in seeing that a former prisoner does not commit crime again, but is rather enabled to make a constructive contribution to society.

Prison Fellowship International

Prison Fellowship International (PFI) is an international Christian NGO established in 1977 with consultative status on the United Nations socio-economic councils.55 The PFI currently has representation in 83 countries across the world. The organisation provides local services primarily in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape with the aid of more than 200 volunteers. In addition to its focus on the reintegration and development of offenders, the PFI also promotes the principles of restorative justice. Approximately 70% of the organisation’s initiatives are directed towards those offenders who are already released from prison and 30% towards those who are still incarcerated.

PFI volunteers provide individual counselling services, group sessions and seminars to prisoners. Interventions take on an interactive approach and address both spiritual and physical needs. Other issues such as life skills and HIV/AIDS are also covered.

The PFI has established a care group system that consists of people impacted by the crime, for example, the prisoners, their families, and victims. The Sycamore Tree programme is one of the programmes in the care group system. This restorative justice programme aims to organise a meeting between the released prisoner and the victim so that the offender would be able to comprehend the full impact of the crime.

The PFI’s Angel Tree programme aims to strengthen the links between the prisoner and his or her family and the community. To facilitate this process, private sponsors are invited to provide gifts that the prisoner could give (through the PFI) to his or her family.

Post-release services are aimed at economic self-sustainability and are provided through the PFI’s Global Economic Outreach Trust (GEO). The GEO Trust links with local and international partners to provide loans to small businesses.

The PFI also provides employment to former prisoners through its own structures. The Gauteng regional founder of the PFI is a former prisoner. In conjunction with other roleplayers, the PFI is apparently conducting investigations to set up a halfway house for former prisoners.

In 1997, the PFI established the Prison Care Programme which arranges foster care for children born in prison. These children stay with their mothers for the first 18 months, after which they are placed with relatives or other appropriate people in foster care. The programme places great emphasis on maintaining contact between mother and child.

Gauteng Rehabilitation Trust

The Gauteng Rehabilitation Trust (GRT) is a religious NGO that provides a counselling service to prisoners at the Johannesburg prison, as well as to prisoners after their release.56 Three counsellors from the GRT provide counselling to prisoners twice a week. Each counselling session lasts between 15 and 20 minutes and the organisation attempts to counsel a prisoner over a period of three to four months in order to provide some continuity.

In an attempt to apply limited resources effectively, the organisation prefers to work with prisoners who are about to be released (about 12 months before release), and prisoners must show a willingness to transform themselves. In addition to individual counselling services, group sessions in the form of Bible study are held. Workshops or group sessions are also held with juvenile prisoners awaiting trial and 100 to 120 juveniles usually participate in these sessions. Church services and communion are also provided to female prisoners on Saturdays.

The organisation provides a family contact service to those prisoners who have lost contact with their families. The families are contacted on behalf of the prisoner and encouraged to maintain contact with the prisoner. The GRT is currently in the process of developing a halfway programme in co-operation with local ministers that would assist prisoners after they have been released.

Churches and religious organisations have been active in prisons since the first prisons were established and much of the discipline that is now part of the prison regime had its origin in monastic orders.57 Religion and religious services have therefore been part of the prison landscape for at least the last 200 years and these services are indeed well-developed in South African prisons. In most instances, prisons are served by the local denominational structures in the area of the prison. Undeniably, spiritual needs and services form part of the reintegration process, but it is essential that these are integrated with other social, economic and educational services.

The Department of Correctional Services affords great importance to religious services with a separate directorate responsible for these services. It is positive that both the Prison Fellowship International and GRT do not limit their services to the spiritual alone, but also address economic development and other non-spiritual needs to assist prisoners upon their release.

Khulisa Programme of Mass Media Marketing

The Khulisa Programme of Mass Media Marketing was established in 1997 and currently runs at Leeuwkop, Krugersdorp and Heidelberg prisons in the medium security A, B and C sections.58 Prisoners who are serving terms longer than 12 months are targeted and the organisation prefers to start working with prisoners 18 months prior to their release. Approximately 50% of the organisation’s work is with juveniles and 50% with adults.

Khulisa’s programme, Usiko, combines storytelling with life skills development in an attempt to restore the self-respect of prisoners. Utilising traditional stories, the focus is placed on morals and values in order to develop life skills. Usiko is creative in using visual arts, drama, dance and music when working with prisoners. The programme covers the following topics: numeracy, communication, literacy and language learning, human and social science, life orientation, economic and management science, arts and culture, and natural science. The Khulisa course content consists of approximately 120 indigenous stories, some of which are narrated by the cultural historian, Credo Mutwa.

Khulisa’s course, My Path, addresses self-conceptual issues, as well as goalsetting, stress management, communication skills and career planning. The third part of the course focuses on business skills and entrepreneurial development.

Khulisa’s other programmes include the tuition model, which consists of self-discovery tools, such as meditation, journal-keeping, creative writing and art exercises. Participants work through workbooks and the course is discussed in groups on a weekly basis. In addition, Khulisa provides training to prisoners who want to become course facilitators.

There are two outstanding features of the Khulisa programme. Firstly, it uses cultural expression though storytelling as a means of moral re-education and self-development. The use of various expressive art forms further adds quality to the programme and makes it more accessible to an audience who generally have low educational and literacy levels. Secondly, the programme has a clear structure that starts with self-conceptual issues, followed by personal life skills development, and lastly the development of marketable skills. It is furthermore significant that the opportunity exists for prisoners to become course facilitators.

Learn and Earn Trust

The Learn and Earn Trust (LET) works at the Leeuwkop, Modderbee, Pretoria Central, Boksburg and Leeuhof prisons.59 The organisation has four staff members and at least one prison is visited per day. Due to the turnover of prisoners at the Johannesburg prison, the organisation is not active there.

The organisation provides a variety of services to prisoners, including a 12-month life skills programme. Issues affecting prisoners are addressed in the course, such as conflict and stress management, HIV/AIDS, small business skills, and arts and crafts skills. The programme emphasises practical skills that the prisoners can use daily in the prison environment in order to cope better with their situation.

At Leeuwkop prison, the groups consist of approximately 50 participants per session. A core group of prisoners attends the entire course of 12 months, but new participants are allowed to join in. When prisoners complete the programme, they receive certificates from LET. The organisation reports that most of the prisoners who participated in the programme previously, join the programme again in the following year. The group sessions are conducted in a participative manner with prisoners facilitating the sessions supported by LET staff. LET also trains prisoners to be facilitators so that they will able to present these courses in the community once they are released.

At Boksburg prison, LET presents a pre-release course approximately two to three months before release. The programme addresses behaviour, attitudes, mindsets and communication. Plans are apparently under way to expand its services to include families of prisoners and other structures of civil society to facilitate the reintegration of offenders.

If the necessary resources are available, LET also provides food to families of prisoners who are destitute. Other initiatives involving families are aimed at encouraging them to maintain contact with the prisoner.

Although LET is a small organisation, there are a number of interesting and noteworthy characteristics of its services. There is at least an attempt to keep the same group of participants on the programme for 12 months. If successful, this will strengthen the impact of the programme. Secondly, prisoners are used as facilitators with LET staff to support them. This approach is similar to that used in the Delaware programme. Thirdly, a specific intervention takes place two to three months prior to release. This is a crucial time and can cause much anxiety among prisoners. From the available data, it is not clear to what extent LET renders post-release support services, which could be a shortcoming in its approach.