Deputy Minister Makwetla to hand over a house built by offenders to indigent family
The Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Hon. Thabang Makwetla, will on Wednesday, 26 July 2017, hand over a house to a needy family of ten (10), currently living in a two-room shack in Oud Stad Village, near Brits, in the North West. This will be followed by acceptance of land from the Bapong-ba-Mogale Tribal Authority to be used for agricultural purposes aimed at alleviating poverty in the area.
As part of the Mandela Month, Deputy Minister Makwetla will once again render a small gesture of solidarity with humanity to the impoverished Nkoane family in the form of a three-bedroom house, with a lounge, kitchen and bathroom. With the building material donated by various sponsors, the house in its entirety was constructed by parolees and probationers from the Bapong village under the Lordship of Bapong-ba-Mogale Tribal Authority.
The Department of Correctional Services (DSC) has identified local communities as an important stakeholder that should work hand-in-hand with the department in tackling youth unemployment, underdevelopment, poverty and absence of hope for a better future. The healthy relationship between DCS and the Bapong-ba-Mogale Tribal Authority has given birth to a number of developments which inspire change to make every day a Mandela Day in the Bapong village.
In line with the theme “Action Against Poverty”, Correctional Services has been allocated a few acres of good agricultural land by the Bapong Ba Mogale Tribal Authority to be used for food production. A Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties will see parolees and probationers not only teaching communities how to farm in a sustainable way but also providing training in conservation agriculture. Such skills were acquired by parolees during their incarceration as one of the key rehabilitation programmes geared towards reducing poverty.
This initiative forms part of a nation-wide programme in the rehabilitation of inmates through offender labour whereby offenders are given an opportunity to correct their wrong-doing by giving back to communities - well in sync with the call of making every day a Mandela Day in a sustainable way that will bring about enduring change.
Media is invited, and the details are as follows:
Date: Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Venue: Bapong-ba-Mogale Tribal Authority Palace (near Brits)
Time: 10h00
We wish to request media attending to please confirm attendance by sending their details to:
Bafedile Mahlokwane
E-mail: bafedile.mahlokwane@dcs.gov.za
Cell: 082 762 0628
Enquiries:
Ntime Skhosana
Cell: 082 496 6875
