Honourable Minister of Correctional Services, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Chief Deputy Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners
Senior managers Departments of Correctional Services and Communications
Representative from Microsoft
Representatives from Penduka Training Institute
Graduates
Honoured guests and
Ladies and gentlemen
I extend warm greetings this morning
Today marks an important day for both the Department of Communications and Correctional Services, we are gathered here to bestow certificates to the young people who successfully completed their training programme. At the same time I wish to commend the Department of Correctional Services for permitting learning in its facilities as part of offender’s rehabilitation skills development programme.
The two Department’s Correctional Services and Communications have made the partnership and are committed to ensuring that the e-Literacy Programme for youth offenders becomes a success. Today’s ceremony is a positive spin that demonstrates government commitment to rehabilitate and ensure integration of offenders with communities.
The e-Literacy Programme for Youth Offenders has been conceptualised out of the realisation that, although globally young people are the early adopters and users of Information and Communication Technology (ICT’s), in our country, the legacy of our educational imbalances has denied the youth of South Africa this opportunity to maximally access and use ICTs, due to inadequate and or lack of skills.
This brings me to the reason as to why we are all here today, the rehabilitation of youth offenders. I can think of at least two key reasons why we should concentrate on this group. First, we need to protect the youth offenders from further damaging their own lives. Young persons are by nature, more impulsive and rebellious. Most will eventually grow out of their delinquent behaviour as they outgrow the adolescent phase and enter adulthood.
The second reason is that we know that young people who grow up under difficult circumstances such as poverty, dysfunctional family structures, substance abuse, mental illness and violence, are at greater risk of becoming delinquents and offenders. In its report the Department of Justice found that children of incarcerated fathers are at higher risk of becoming offenders themselves.
We need to address some of the key factors of instability in a young person’s life and social environment in order to reduce their vulnerability to delinquency and crime. The family is the basic unit of society and will remain the primary institution in the socialisation of our youth. Consequently, rehabilitation of youth offenders must involve their families.
The department's seriousness about ensuring that ICTs are de-mystified can be attested to by the type of investment that has been committed to this programme. ICTs have become the cornerstone for socio-economic development. It is for that reason this programme is focusing on getting as many young people as possible to be ICT skilled and capable to enable them to participate actively in both the information society and knowledge economy.
Honourable Minister, to date, the Department of Communications working with our partners have contributed a significant amount towards this important initiative. In the first phase 250 youth offenders were trained from in Leeuwkop, Modderbee, Barbeton and Durban Westville Female Correctional Centres. In the second phase 100 youth offenders were trained from Kimberley Correction Centre.
Honourable Minster I am so pleased that this initiative is spreading its tentacles to ensure that we reach all the corners of our country. I am told, here, today we have youth from the Mpumalanga, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape provinces.
This has been made possible by the contributions from Microsoft South Africa, Penduka Training Institute; I extend our sincere gratitude for their contribution.
I am informed that there are also Officials from the Correctional Services who participated in the programme, and achieved the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) qualification. Well done, so the baton can be passed on, and we shall see more young people coming out ICT capable.
To all the 317 participants who will be receiving certificates on; ICDL full qualification, ICDL start, certificates of participation in the programme, Microsoft Digital Literacy, Life coaching Skills and A+ Fundamentals.
Steve Jobs once said “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Hand-over of the soccer kits
Ladies and gentlemen I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chairman, Football Manager and Director of Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, for supporting us in the process of rehabilitating and empowering our youth by donating 60 soccer shorts and socks from the Club.
The Department of Communications fully understands the concept of partnerships with the Department of Correctional Services, private Sector and Families towards a complete rehabilitation.
I hand-over these items to the Acting Regional Commissioner of Limpopo, Mpumalanga & North West region.
Rehabilitation is a long journey. It starts with a young offender at a cross road. He can either lose his way by continuing to re-offend or be redirected to become a resilient and socially responsible individual. It is up to all of us to put our hearts and minds together, and to walk with these young people as they rebuild their lives.
I wish you all a most fruitful life, I thank you!
