Pretoria - He was sent to jail time at the age of 20 and spent years in prison for armed robbery, murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and rape.
Now 31, former offender Chere Matseke says he believes he has more to offer to his community.
Matseke, who was arrested on his 19th birthday has been out on parole since 2011, and has since become a self-sufficient entrepreneur, running a businesses for the betterment of his community.
He was among those attending a two day ex-offenders conference at the St Georges Hotel outside Pretoria on Thursday.
“Being in prison was my blessing; not because prison was a nice place, but because regardless of the all the hardships, it helped build a strong character in me through the system programmes.
“I learnt to survive and to change for the better in an environment where there is pressure to remain the same person that you were when you entered the prison,” he said.
“You don’t just sit in prison waiting to be released. In there you start laying the foundation of how to move forward out here, what your purpose and vision for the outside world - and more especially the community you have wronged - is,” said Matseke.
Another ex-offender Solly Mawkga, 38, said the idea of reintegration was not to burden the community, or those they had wronged having to forgive and accept them. Rather, it was their responsibility (as ex-offenders) to prove to the communities that they had changed.
“The community does not owe ex-offenders anything because they were the ones wronged by us.
“It is a work in progress to come out and show them through our efforts that we are different people,” said Mawkga.
“There is no such thing as communities won’t take you back or accept you because you are from prison.
“What did you want them to do? You’re the one that has to extend the olive leaf and then go about showing them you are genuinely serious about change,” he said.
Mawkga was released in 2012 after serving half of his 15-year jail term for robbery in 2005.
He said he used the time to study in prison through Unisa. The power of education was what he encouraged those still incarcerated to obtain to use outside so they did not to resort to crime again.
Delivering the keynote address, Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Thabang Makwetla noted that the department was hoping the dialogue would serve as a platform for ex-offenders to share their experiences, trials and tribulations.
Makwetla said they wanted to hear first hand from ex-offenders how they had been able to use the skills they gained while in custody but also from those who failed in being reintegrated.
“I urge communities to resist the temptation to impose a life-long punishment on ex-offenders by stigmatising, ostracising and perpetually judging them, instead of assisting them to be fully integrated in our communities upon release,” he said.
“The issue of jobs for ex-offenders and, in particular, the negative impact and stumbling block criminal records have created on new employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
“Former inmates can play a meaningful role in strengthening the government’s efforts aimed at preventing and combating criminality,” said Makwetla.
Dealing with criminal records had to be done in such a manner so that ex-offenders are not tried as first time offenders as it would affect sentencing and judgment, but they could also not be condemned for life, he said.
Pretoria News