Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula launched the first ever halfway house in front of more than 700 people in Naturena on Friday, 24 February 2012.
This is a product of a partnership between the department and three non-profit organisations (NPOs), collectively called Victory House, the halfway house is home to six male parolees aged between 18 and 25 and house parents Casper and Mercy Julius.
Launching the pilot project in the presence of high profile guests such as Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Lulu Xingwana, Deputy Minister Ngoako Ramathlodi and Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko, Minister Mapisa-Nqakula could not hold back her pride and joy. She thanked a number of officials for their hard work in the project.
One of the officials was Britta Rotmann, the project's technical adviser. “Britta, you are the brains behind this project. Last year you told me we would have a halfway house and we have a halfway house,” the Minister said in a marquee a few metres from the house.
She also had words of encouragement for the six parolees. “You have been presented with an important opportunity to turn your lives around. The pressure is on you to succeed,” she said. Earlier, the Minister also spoke privately with the parolees to get to know them better.
The Minister, who spoke mostly off the cuff and from her heart, gave the audience insight into why she considered the establishment of halfway houses so important. She explained that the rate of re-offending is very high and that halfway houses will assist eligible offenders who do not have a fixed and monitorable address to have a stable home environment. Here they will have to participate in further educational programmes and their reintegration back into society will be assisted by community corrections officials and their house parents.
Minister Mapisa-Nqakula was certain that halfway houses are a means to curb re-offending. She was also certain that there are categories of offenders who do not belong in correctional centres and who will be better off receiving non-custodial sentences from the courts. She urged the judicial system to become more aware of alternative sentencing options where appropriate, and to apply such sentences in greater numbers.
After her speech and entertainment in the form of music by an offender choir in the marquee, the Minister was accompanied by some of the guests to the halfway house at 155 Malta Street where she cut a ribbon to officially launch the pilot project.
The house parents, Casper and Mercy Julius, are living with the six parolees and are taking care of their basic needs. The day-to-day running of the house is the responsibility of the Victory House collective. Casper and Mercy were selected because of, among other things, their experience in managing a halfway house for drug addicts. But more importantly, as the Minister pointed out, they are a strong, caring and determined couple who will assist the juveniles in building a life without crime.
The department's responsibility in the project is to monitor the parolees. As this is the first of its kind, the department will regularly interact with all entities involved in the project to learn from it. The parolees will not remain in the house forever. As the house is in partnership with the department, the mandate ends when a parolee reaches his sentence expiry date.
During the time that the parolees are living in the house, collective efforts will be made to establish a long term address and support system for them outside of the halfway house.
Minister Mapisa-Nqakula thanked the community of Naturena for welcoming the project and the six parolees.
She announced that the next halfway house will be one for eligible female offenders.
The department's halfway house project received support from the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and MEC Faith Mazibuko's office.
“The community of Naturena welcomes the offenders,” said the area's ward councillor, Mbuyiselo Dokolwane.
Later in the programme a group of female offenders, collectively known as Razor Kutt, took to the stage and performed a play depicting the story of the halfway house project, including how it will work. The play was directed by Bongani Nkosi.
The women from Johannesburg Correctional Centre entertained the large crowd with song and dance but also shared their moving personal stories about how they landed in jail. The stories did not only draw tears from the female offenders but also from some members of the audience.
