Young in Prison South Africa: Annual Report 2013/2014 by Young In Prison South Africa

annual report

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Contents From the Chair

From the Director

About Us

The YIP International Network

Our Team

Programme Highlights

Rehabilitation

Reintegration

Advocacy

Media Coverage

Presence in Gauteng

Looking Ahead

Financials

Donors & Stakeholders

...

Message from the chair

YiPSA / Siyakhana Programme Report Overview 2013-14

wenty years into democracy our criminal justice system is far from what the Constitution requires and crime remains at unacceptably high levels. Despite the high volume of arrests executed by the police annually, public safety has not improved substantially. Too many young people come into contact with the criminal justice system where they are exposed to a range of risk factors, often only aggravating a precarious situation. To a large extent the criminal justice system and thinking around reducing crime has remained unchanged. An over-emphasis on law enforcement at the cost of crime prevention and offender re-entry support has not produced the results we were looking for. It is indeed time for a fundamental re-think of how we need to address crime in South Africa. For many young South Africans the future looks bleak, with little prospect of permanent employment in a slow-growing, if not stagnating, economy. To address this requires a societal effort that seeks partnerships between the state, civil society and the private sector. The challenges we face are not insignificant as the young people of today will have to deal with the legacy of the current situation if not properly addressed. It is in this regard that YIPSA makes an invaluable contribution by assisting young South Africans deprived of their liberty to have a future that looks different from their past. The 2013/14 YIPSA Annual Report reflects on the achievements of the organisation and these are indeed notable, especially in light of the fact that YIPSA is a small organisation. More than 1200 young people participated in the Siyakhana Programme and 1055 in the Rehabilitation Programme. Other achievements include significant media exposure and advocacy work with institutional staff where the organisation is active. In 2013/14 YIPSA also sustained the expanded services in Gauteng rendering services at the Leeuwkop Correctional Centre.

In 2009/10 YIPSAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual budget was R648 000 and by 2013/14 the budget had grown to R2 950 000; an increase of over 355, 40 % In an environment where funding for civil society organisations has shrunk significantly in the past five years. This is an achievement of note. The composition of the Board has remained stable and we were able to expand the Board when Tina Lorizzo joined us. I am indebted to my fellow Board members for their contributions and for their dedication to attend meetings and respond to issues as they arise. On behalf of the Board I would like to express my deep gratitude to the staff of YIPSA who goes to great lengths to implement the organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s services. In their interactions with young people in various institutions and communities, they are making a difference and restoring the dignity, selfrespect and hope for the future of these young people. The Board is also grateful to the Director, Tarisai Mchuchu, who has led the organisation in an exemplary manner and taking it from strength to strength. Lastly, without the support of our donors YIPSA would not have been possible. The organisation and its clients are grateful for their continued support. Professor Lukas Muntingh

Message from the director

n 2013-14, YiPSA focused on reducing reoffending through empowerment of youth to become active and positive participants in society. The focus was ‘reducing reoffending’ because many young people are going in and out of the correctional system without actually making any significant changes to their lives. The lack of action on their part cannot be solely attributed to their lack of interest or even inability to change. The lack of action is also attributed to a dysfunctional justice system, from the moment of arrest, to sentencing and eventually incarceration. This is further exacerbated by the long periods that an individual awaits trial while being institutionalised. It is against this background that YiPSA decided in 2012 to work holistically targeting not only the individual offender, but also extending it to the institutional staff-members that are his/her caregivers. We also extended the programme to target community members that are affected by crime and criminals every day. Family members that

are able to offer much needed support have also been involved. This strategy as evidenced in this report, has achieved great results. It is noteworthy that 96 out of 224 participants in the reintegration programme secured gainful employment and/or internships. This is a credible achievement and contributes greatly to reducing reoffending and recidivism. In the past two years, it has been very encouraging to see the participant from the beginning to the end and how each individual changes from being a negative to a positive actor in society. YiPSA celebrates this as a start to a greater call to all sectors of society to recognise the humanity in offenders. It is a call for citizens to act upon the values that we all aspire to in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Government needs to ensure that every sentence leads to the offender returning back into society a changed person, ready to contribute to our communities for a safer and prosperous South Africa.

iPSA has developed a holistic programme that targets individual offenders to change their behaviour, capacitates care-workers to support that change and also empowers communities to create an environment for reintegration. The main objective of this programme is to reduce reoffending amongst young offenders. From hereon YiPSA will strategically focus on strengthening these programmes by adding three elements to achieve optimal results. Firstly, YiPSA in addition to facilitating life-skills workshops for behaviour change will also focus on educating young offenders to recognise when they have been tortured or exposed to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment (CITDP). Secondly, there will be an added element to the care-workers project in preventing impunity by having social dialogues and creating a handbook on torture and CITDP for ground-level staff. Thirdly, YiPSA will link identified victims of torture to various networks for trauma support and/or any legal remedies. We believe that these added elements to the programme will increase our effectiveness in ensuring that young offenders are reintegrated back into society as emotionally whole and intelligent people who are capable of being active and can make positive contributions to society. YiPSA has been successful in securing funding to sustain and grow our programmes. We are aware that many non-profit organisations have had to reduce their services or close down because of the economic downturn. From 2015, YiPSA will invest more energy into various income-generating activities through its skills-development projects with the post-release participants. Our vision is to reduce the dependency on international donor funding and diversify our funding streams in order to sustain the organisation in the longer term.

The Year’s past

The Years Ahead Strategy and Sustainability

YiPSA is able to deliver its vision and mission through the efforts of various extraordinary individuals and teams who work tirelessly throughout the year. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to: • Lukas Muntingh, our Chairperson for holding the management of the organisation together and giving much needed strategic advice • Michelle Connan, our Treasurter for ensuring that the financial health of the organisation is maintained • Rest of the management board who continue to dedicate their lives to ensuring the sustainability of the organisation • YiPSA staff members who go beyond the call of duty and believe in the young people we work with • YiPSA volunteers and interns who support our staff and are committed to giving their valuable time. • The Young in Prison International Network and its dedication to fighting crime and reducing the suffering of children and youth in prison globally • Departments of Correctional Services, Social Development, Education and all other stakeholders that have committed to partner with YiPSA in ensuring that we contribute to South Africa’s safety • Most importantly, to every young person that allows us to be part of his/her journey of change Tarisai Mchuchu Director

About us Young in Prison South Africa (YiPSA) is a nonprofit organisation that offers a holistic programme working with children and youth in conflict with law. We seek to prepare them in making the transition from incarceration to reintegrating back into society. We do this by imparting life skills for behaviour change and offering practical tools skills for effective reintegration and reducing reoffending. YiPSA uses a unique methodology of teaching life skills using creative and performing arts, sports and literacy. We offer our services in correctional facilities, child and youth-care centres and communities in Cape Town and Johannesburg. YiPSA looks at rehabilitation holistically from the perspective of the individual, community and institution. Our aim is to develop the skills of young offenders and ex-offenders so that they are empowered to advocate for issues that affect their development and that enable them to actively and positively engage in society.

The YIP international network Noa Lodeizen, a Dutch national started the Young in Prison Foundation in 2002. Initially Young in Prison implemented its vision through local partners in South Africa, Columbia, Suriname and Malawi with Young in Prison Netherlands (YiPNL) acting as the lead organisation. In 2012, Young in Prison established itself as a network organisation, with members in South Africa, Malawi, Kenya and The Netherlands. YiPNL now functions as the secretariat of the network, overseeing the work of the task teams and ensuring a constant flow of information and sharing of learning.

In the period 2014-16, Young in Prison has a vision to extend its methodology to other countries such as Zimbabwe, Palestine, Uganda and the rest of South Africa.

Our team Board members

Michelle Connan – Treasurer Michelle obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1995 and a Master of Business Leadership degree in 2004. Michelle is a self-employed business consultant and has +-20 years of work experience in roles including administration, finance, BBBEE transformation, project management and supply chain management predominantly in the property sector. She joined the YiPSA board as Treasurer in 2012. Pearl Nel - Marketing and Events She is the Provincial Chair of Marketing, Events and Volunteers Programme for First National Bank, Western Cape. Born and raised in District Six – a product of the Immorality Act era; schooled on the Cape Flats in the time of the 1976 & 1980 unrests. She is obsessively passionate about making a difference in the lives of others. “Do what I love – and love what I do.

Lukas Muntingh – Chairperson Co-founder and Project Coordinator of CSPRI. He holds a PhD (Law) from UWC and an MA (Sociology) from Stellenbosch University. He is Associate Professor at the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape. He has been involved in criminal justice reform since 1992 and was Deputy Executive Director of NICRO prior to joining CSPRI full-time. He has worked in Southern Africa and Central Asia on child justice, prisoners’ rights, preventing corruption in the prison system, the prevention and combating of torture, and monitoring legislative compliance. He has published extensively and presented at several conferences. His current focus is on the prevention and combating of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees.

Tina Lorizzo - Member Tina Lorizzo is a Ph.D. student at the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She holds a LLM in Criminal Justice from the same University and a BA and LLB in Law from the University of Bologna, in Italy. She is involved also in the issues of pre-trial detention and the prohibition of torture and other ill treatments, in Mozambique. She has worked as a lawyer for the Institute for Legal Aid (Instituto Patrocinio e Assistência Jurídica, IPAJ) in Maputo, and collaborated as an intern at the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative in Cape Town.

Staff members 1.

10.

1. Tarisai Mchuchu - Director 2. Natasha Swain - Finance & Operations Officer 3. Zamani Ndlovu - Programme & Office Ma nager 4. Clinton Osbourn - Post Release Coordinator 5. Owen Butler - Internal Projects Verifier 6. Nkosinathi Buyana - Service Learning Coordinator 7. Tlhabanelo Diholo - Sports Development Coordinator 8. Vuyokazi Magobiyane - Post-Release Assistant 9. Joseph Mofokeng - Life-Skills Facilitator 10. Tebogo Butie - Life-Skills Facilitator

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Siyakhana – Building Each Other: Youth empowerment through arts and life skills in correctional facilities In 2012, YiPSA turned 10. From the work over the past decade, it has become evident that for young people to get the best from YiPSA it is critical for them to be active and feel empowered thereby becoming the voice of change. The core of our work has been on Rehabilitation – working with young offenders in-prison and places of safety; Reintegration – working with young offenders post release; and Advocacy – working at institutional, community and policy levels. Over the past two years YiPSA has strengthened the voices of young people who have been in conflict with the law. Voices of over 1,000 young offenders have been heard through the creative

and performing arts. By engaging professional artists, we have provided young people with life skills training, facilitated dialogues with community members, prison administrators and government officials. We have also offered mentorship and job placements ensuring that the same youth can eventually become leaders in their respective communities. The programme has provided the building blocks for raising awareness and re-building communities by bringing together people from different walks of life, highlighting the importance of taking individual responsibility for a safer and prosperous South Africa.

Rehabilitation A core element of the work within the institutions is the Inside-Out life skills programme. Using different creative art forms, young people are taken on a journey of self-discovery where they are able to confront their feelings and come to terms with their personal circumstances. The culmination of this process is the production of Inside Out, a high quality magazine showcasing the work of the youth. Over the year, a total of

over 1,000 young people inside six institutions in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces participated and contributed directly to seven editions of the magazine. In one institution, graduates from the Inside-Out life skills project have established a writer’s club, taking their poetry and other writings to a new level. http://issuu.com/younginprison

The role of the performing arts – drama, dance and singing has been at the heart of the Theatre Storm project. Collaborating with local NGOs such as Project Phakama, Heal the Hood and Themba Interactive, inmates have been involved in projects such as ‘A Man of Men’, exploring what it means to be a man, looking at and unpacking the influence of peers, relationships with fathers as well as images from the media.

The culmination of these workshops is a live performance to family members, YiPSA, prison administration and other stakeholders. It’s an opportunity to display the positive changes experienced by the young people and a testimony that it is possible to change from bad to good. Giving the participants an opportunity to express themselves freely through the various channels breaks the stereotypical depiction of incarcerated youth. Their self-esteem is bolstered and there is a positive recognition of new skills and insights, thereby improving their self-worth. For the audience, it’s an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by young people and a moment to be very proud of their accomplishments.

“

The presentation made me see that my father really loves me. I also saw that my father was really proud. I could see it in his eyes. - Drakenstein participant

” “

When I saw my mom I got all the respect for her and it was for the first time that I realised I love my mom. It gave me strength to get through my last months in prison. I liked to show and tell her that you [YiPSA] made me change.

”

- Goodwood participant

Insider Art has been the strategy for showcasing the work of young people to the general public. The exhibitions in different art galleries in Cape Town and Johannesburg have endeavoured to increase awareness of the issues faced by young people in conflict with the law. It is also an important tool for increasing understanding and reducing stigma towards incarcerated youth.

“

”

Amazing work done by the youth here at the gallery. Love the art. Hope they never give up.

YiPSA uses sports for positive upliftment, acquiring leadership and life skills. Through the Soccer Project, juvenile offenders learn to fortify discipline, people skills, a strong sense of self and a genuine commitment to lead a crime-free life. Most institutionalised youth yearn to be and feel young and sport allows them to feel their age and release their burdens.

During 2013-14, YiPSA hosted a total of four Insider Art exhibitions garnering positive exposure from a diversity of local and international media. On Youth Day, June 16, YiPSA launched an Insider Art exhibition at the Workers Museum in Johannesburg. A total of 67 people attended the opening, including family members of the inmates and the mayor of the City of Johannesburg. The exhibition also attracted the media: BEELD, Sowetan newspapers and the SABC TV Programme, Morning Live. Various forms of artwork made by the Leeuwkop prison participants and facilitators were displayed, such as drawings, paintings and papier-mâché artefacts. Some of the artwork has also been submitted for competitions. Through InsiderArt, many young offenders have demonstrated a pool of raw talent, which can be developed professionally and turned into a livelihood upon their release.

No. Males

No. Females

No. Workshops

No. Presentations

Inside-Out

418

123

492

Theatre Storm

182

Soccer Club

250

238

Group Mentoring

Total

897

158

879

Soccer-life-skills allows participants an opportunity to reflect on their situations and get a better understanding of the consequences of their actions and choices and how it affects their victims, families and themselves. Over the past two years, a total of six tournaments were held involving YiPSA staff, learners from schools against inmates in various institutions.

Reintegration

Advocacy

Siyakhana Ambassadors

Working with institutional staff

In 2012, YiPSA started developing the model of Siyakhana Ambassadors. These are ex-offenders that attend the post-release programme and want to make a difference in their communities. The Ambassadors are trained to be a positive voice and agents of change. They are required to attend workshops, remain drug free, show positive leadership traits, and be passionate about youth

development. They also need to be honest about their weaknesses and be committed to work on these. The temptation to return to a life of drugs is very high and equipping participants to overcome this remains an on going challenge. By the end of 2013, a total of 12 Ambassadors were recruited on the programme.

Job Placements A key objective of the post release programme is to get the young person engaged in some kind of meaningful employment, training programme or internship. Securing a livelihood is an important contributor to reducing the high levels of recidivism. During 2013/14, 27 participants gained practical skills through internships/training and 69 participants found either temporary or fulltime employment.

We have established relationships with several organisations and companies: Cape Town Society for the Blind, The Old Biscuit Mill, Clean Green, About Thyme, Live magazine, Inyanda Youth Network, Reel Lives and Bush Radio, who have provided valuable arts training and employment opportunities to post-release participants. The YiPSA post-release programme is becoming more structured and participants are required to attend sessions on self and social-awareness and life-skills. This is in addition to working on creative projects and actively seeking work or starting their own business. For the latter, support with CVs, business planning, interview preparation is offered by YiPSA facilitators.

Over the years, it has become clear that YiPSA needs to develop a stronger relationship with staff inside the institutions. Focus group sessions with warders and child and youth care workers in various centres reveal that most care-workers are inadequately trained and are not empowered to deal with the specific issues and concerns that affect young people. The bulk of the training received by warders is focused on matters of security and less on child development and the actual rehabilitation of young offenders. During 2013-14, YiPSA used the Appreciative Inquiry approach, facilitating sessions with care workers, allowing them to see the strength and positive attributes they could contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders. At the Bellville Community Corrections offices, Drakenstein Correctional Centre, Ottery Child and Youth Centre and Pollsmoor prison, focus group sessions were held with parole officers, warders and care workers on their attitudes towards young people who have come in conflict with the law. In addition, training was provided on the use of the arts as a way to reach ex-offenders in realising their human rights. Such experiences show that warders and care workers are beginning

to appreciate the arts as a powerful tool that empowers and that can be used by people of all ages, circumstances and backgrounds. During August, the female section of Pollsmoor prison was targeted with focus group discussions and a creative writing workshop with female warders. At the outset, most were skeptical and saw it as a waste of time in trying to change behavior of the young offenders. Like their male counterparts, the general approach is one akin to the military where sternness, lack of compassion and a harsh voice is the norm for instilling discipline. The use of creative arts provided the warders an opportunity to reflect on themselves - the space enabled them to unpack their own life experiences and how these were being projected negatively towards the female prisoners. It was clear the warders have a nurturing side and it was important to channel it for more positive outcomes. A total of 15 sessions, were held during the course of 2013/4 reaching 44 care workers.

Gender Throughout August, womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s month in South Africa, YiPSA ran workshops on the attitudes and behaviours of men towards women and girls in society. Many of the male post release participants acknowledged they treat women as inferior, labelling them as the weaker sex. While gender based violence is considered unacceptable, there is limited understanding of the emotional and psychological abuse that often

post-release participants perpetuate towards female family members. The Ambassadors role was to speak out against rape and the need for men to challenge existing cultural norms and values towards women. They also shared their personal experiences of how it was the strength and encouragement of their mothers that got them through the dark days in prison.

Youth Solutions to Community Safety During 2013, YiPSA produced ‘Inside OutConnect Ulutsha’, a special edition of the magazine showcasing the lives seen through the eyes of ‘free’ youth from the Phillipi Progressive and Ikamva Youth Clubs in Cape Town. Here, they mapped out “hot spots” in their community where crime is rife. It provided an opportunity to reflect on their community and on the daily challenges faced by young people. At the same time, 75 young people from high schools in the Cape Town area (Fezeka, Mkhize, Masiyile and

Alexandra Sinton) participated in, ‘Youth Solutions to Community Safety’; art workshops to develop solutions to creating safer communities using creative writing, lino-cutting, pastels or scrapper board. All youth highlighted the role of peer-pressure and the influence of drugs in crime. The ease of access to drugs and other substances continues to contribute to high useage and in the participation of crime and violence.

Memeza, Shout It Out Throughout the year, dialogues on youth challenges - education, crime, teenage pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse were held in collaboration with community organisations and youth clubs. Following this, learners translated the discussions into a creative art form using paint, pastel and charcoal. The role of the Ambassadors has been critical in providing an authentic voice and testimony to the realities of prison life. By giving young people a voice, one seeks to change the attitude and reduce the stigma towards them. Over a two-year period, 16 Siyakhana Ambassadors conducted 146 highschool presentations.

“

We were sitting quietly listening at one of the ambassadors who are telling us about how he ended up in jail and what the challenges of being imprisoned are. That story taught us a lot about how you should be aware of life, the choices you make and the difficulties you face in future.

”

YiPSA is seen as an important partner in the Department of Education’s violence prevention strategy. Many schools have expressed a desire to create dialogue on matters that affect both the learners and the inmates. In Gauteng alone, the YiPSA team conducted over 200 workshops and presentations and over 10 displays and jamborees. Furthermore, YiPSA is represented in a number of school welfare committees and is regarded as a valuable consultant in area of safety. To commemorate Human Rights Day (March 21), YiPSA and the Siyakhana Ambassadors hosted a social dialogue on ‘dealing with perpetrators of gender based violence’. This topic is important given the high levels of violence and crimes committed against women and children in South Africa. Attended by over 100 people, the Ambassadors played a key role of sharing their own experiences of crime, thereby making the dialogues more authentic. In collaboration with NICRO, YiPSA hosted a social dialogue on the topic of ‘Women in Crime’ targeting policy makers. The voices of young women were heard through letters published in the Inside Out magazine and told how females got to a point where crime seemed like the only option and many felt great regret about their choices. These stories provide valuable information beyond research and statistics and give insight into the role of fathers, families and communities in raising young women.

Connect Ultutsha No. Participants

No. Workshops

No. High schools

No. Magazines

No. Presentations

MEMZA, shout it out Community stakeholders with parents, schools, neighbours, media, potential employers and faith based organisations

Exhibitions

Social Dialogues

School Presentations