As part of National Book Week, Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has repeated his calls for the donation of constructive books to aid the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) path towards the rehabilitation of offenders.
One of the lasting legacies of National Book Week is the donation of books to under-resourced community libraries, schools, authors’ associations, book clubs, and other community based establishments throughout the country.
“As government, we are passionate about galvanising understanding and support for our transformative agenda from prisons to corrections, and preparing those of our offenders who need to get ready to be reintegrated as functional members of society.
“As the reading culture in our country remains minimal, DCS is working towards promoting a culture of reading and writing in our correctional centres and to project reading as a fun activity that expands horizons of knowledge for both offenders and officials. This includes a sustained reading promotion strategy, as a widespread culture of reading and writing will assist our offenders to meet the demands of a knowledgeable society. Through a collective effort, we must instil a love for reading and create a reading community in our correctional centres in South Africa.
We are also working towards book debates, where offenders are given books to read and, thereafter, engage in discussions and debates about the books. We are looking forward to this kind of engagement, including that such activities will become part of the daily lives of our offender communities. Let us continue to work together to build a reading offender population, because a reading nation is an empowered nation.
“To this end, we recently launched the ‘Reading for Redemption’ campaign, calling on all organs of society to donate constructive books and baby products to aid the department’s path towards the rehabilitation of offenders. Reading is one of the best ways to build character. The books will be used to instil a culture of reading and learning in offenders. We want to encourage inmates to read, read, read and study, study, study.
Donations of baby products will be used for toddlers, younger than two years, who are in correctional centres due to offences committed by their mothers. Our goal is to help these children have a good start in life. The emphasis of Correctional Services is on correction and all of us can be corrected. We must create an environment in correctional facilities that contributes to offenders becoming better than what they were, thereby ensuring a better South Africa,” Minister Ndebele said.
Later this month, as part of Heritage Month and Corrections Week, Minister Ndebele will officially open an Integrated Resource Centre (IRC) at St. Albans Correctional Centre in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. IRCs are being established at various correctional centres in order to foster a culture of learning, reading and knowledge sharing for both offenders and officials.
The IRC will serve as a knowledge hub to promote human capital investment, and support the department's development and rehabilitation strategic objectives through improving the prospects of offenders acquiring skills that could make them competitive in the job market after serving their sentences.
Donations may be directed:
Zanele Mkosi
Tel: 012 305 8306
Cell: 082 958 8764
Zoliswa Dlula
Tel: 012 307 2342
Cell: 073 339 1522
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 644 4050
