Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele says that regret, remorse, reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration are key to the success of the Victim-Offender Dialogue Programme.
Addressing a victim-offender dialogue, between the survivors, victims and offender of the 1996 Christmas Eve Worcester bomb attack, in Worcester, in the Western Cape, today (16 September), the Minister said: “On Christmas Eve in 1996, here in Worcester, an unthinkable, violent crime left four people, including three innocent children, dead. Sixty seven (67) people, comprising mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, sons and daughters, were injured, and maimed, as bombs ripped through the Shoprite shopping centre packed with last-minute shoppers.
The first bomb, that went off around 13h20, hit umama u-Olga Macingwane in such a way that her legs swelled instantly to the size of tractor tyres. Minutes later, the second bomb went off and she was blown unconscious.
“Shortly afterwards, the youngest bomber said that he was disappointed at the low death toll and would like an opportunity to do more damage. More than 16 years later, Stefaans Coetzee, who had just turned 17 at the time, is a changed man. Today, we want to congratulate victims of the Worcester bombing for embarking on this important journey to meet Stefaans Coetzee.
“This journey highlights the five important R-factors: Regret; Remorse; Reconciliation; Rehabilitation and Reintegration. This month as we celebrate our heritage, and approach 20 Years of Freedom next year, we must never forget how truly evil, and reprehensible, the apartheid system was. Apartheid had intended to strip away every ounce of dignity, and humanity, of Black people, but did not succeed.
Our freedom was not free: we must never lose sight of the sacrifices of those who came before us, and we must jealously guard our freedom, and democracy, in South Africa. More importantly, undoing the damage of the evil apartheid system in a short space of time was never going to be easy. We know that more still needs to be done.
Despite our challenges as a young democratic nation, we have much to celebrate together. We are building a country that values human life and dignity. It is for this reason that we reject the view of ‘an eye for an eye’.
From the unthinkable atrocities we suffered in our divided past, we chose truth and reconciliation, over retribution, as the foundation of a united, New South Africa. Our beloved founding President, Nelson Mandela, led the way in demonstrating that we ‘will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than [we] will through acts of retribution’.
“In November 2012, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) introduced the Victim-Offender Dialogue (VOD) programme. The aim of the VOD programme is to strengthen current rehabilitation, and re-integration, programmes of DCS, by placing the victim at the centre of the corrections process.
This process is premised on the principles of Restorative Justice, as outlined in the White Paper on Corrections. It requires DCS to encourage restoration between victims, offenders and communities in consultation, or partnership, with stakeholders.
“As DCS, we are thankful for social partners such as the Worcester Hope and Reconciliation Process (WHARP) and Khulumani Support Group (KSG). For years, these partners have been supporting survivors of the bomb explosion. We are also grateful to local businesses, the religious community as well as a host of other individuals, and organised formations, which have been supporting the Worcester peace, and reconciliation, efforts.
The locals have been pivotal in cultivating a relationship with Stefaans Coetzee, which paved the way for various interventions. Just before Christmas in 2009, umama Olga Macingwane, accompanied by Harris Sibeko, Nobanzi Ndamoyi and Getrude Louw, was still limping, from the damage done by Coetzee’s 1996 bomb, when she walked towards him ready to face him. Mrs. Macingwane told Stefaans, ‘when I see you, I see my sister’s son in you, and I cannot hate you’.
This interaction was another major influence in Coetzee’s decision to turn his life around. In January 2013, the ‘Worcester Peace Train’ was initiated. On 30th January 2013, in Pretoria, we met about 60 victims who arrived, by train from Worcester, to meet Stefaans Coetzee at the Pretoria Central Correctional Centre.
“The Victim-Offender Dialogue is a voluntary process, where the offender, and victim, are able to talk about the effects of the crime, and how, why, when and by whom the crime was committed. This may lead to reparation, healing and understanding the emotional harm caused by the offence. Restorative Justice is part of our rich African heritage. Human life is precious and sacred. Crime is, undoubtedly, appalling.
We must remain steadfast in our rejection of crime, no matter what the circumstances. Crime devalues us. It robs us of our dignity, and deprives us of humanity. Such dehumanisation is an experience of both the victim and perpetrator. Today, as DCS, impelled by ubuntu and the need for restorative justice, we are here to assure the community, and victims of this heart-breaking episode, that we have not forgotten your pain and loss.
Our Victim-Offender Dialogue programme is geared towards ensuring that victims of crime, like you, are not erased from public memory once the courts sentenced the offender. We recognize that your loss is irreplaceable, and that the healing of your wounds, and pain, did not vanish into thin air once guilt was established by the courts.
One of the greatest lessons from President Mandela’s life is that, ‘while bad things do happen to good people, we still have the freedom and the responsibility to decide how we respond to injustice, cruelty and violence and how they will affect our spirits, hearts, and minds’.People of Worcester, today we are here to sincerely listen to you because we believe that such honest engagements provide all of us with an opportunity to deal with our individual, and collective, hurt.
Hopefully, in the end, we will find some closure to what we, unfortunately, cannot alter. We are here today because Stefaans Coetzee has realised that his horrendous actions in 1996 were not acts against a distant state, but against his fellow human beings who are members of this community.
He regrets his actions, and is continuing on his journey to say sorry, and ask for forgiveness, to the individuals, and community, he harmed. We are not obliged to accept his apology, but this man is no longer that young, naive, indoctrinated boy who, more than 17 years ago, had only one regret which was that he did not kill as many people as he had hoped to.
“As DCS, we are mandated, by our constitution, to keep communities safe, by ensuring that convicted thieves, fraudsters, abusers, rapists and murderers are held in safe custody. You must, appreciate, however, that, in conjunction with our public security mandate, our constitution obliges us to rehabilitate offenders so that they return to society as ideal, productive and law-abiding citizens.
DCS cannot achieve this alone, without the involvement of communities where offenders come from. We are also aware that, as a department and as a country, we will never find lasting solutions to crime if we leave victims of crime at the periphery of our justice system. We are, therefore, grateful that this community of Worcester, a victim of that dreadful offence in December 1996, is with us today to contribute to this much-needed dialogue pertaining to solutions to crime, strife, conflict, reconciliation and nation building.
“South Africa, in implementing its correctional system, has chosen both incapacitation, and rehabilitation, as instruments to ensure a just, peaceful and safe society. Incapacitation is aimed at taking away the potential of the offender to commit more crimes through humane incarceration. Rehabilitation includes reforming, re-educating and restoring the offender to the state he, or she, was in before offending or, if not, even better.
To give meaning, and contemporary effect, to restorative justice, we have introduced various programmes including VODs and Reading for Redemption. These rehabilitation interventions are aimed at changing the behaviour of the offender, and preventing re-offending.
VODs were introduced to address the need for the trilogy of the victim of crime, the community and offender to face each other with a view to building safe, and secure, communities. We have urged correctional officials to maintain visibility in communities, by promoting Victim-Offender Dialogues.
Restorative Justice is motivated by the following factors: Crime is a violation of people and relationships; Crime creates obligations to make things right; Justice involves the victim, offender and community; and Justice seeks solutions which promote repair, reconciliation and reassurance,” Minister Ndebele said.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 644 4050
