Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola kick-started Youth Month by handing over projects worked on by offenders at Skeen Primary School in Alexandra on 3 June.
The projects included the construction of sports fields for netball and soccer including grandstands, the refurbishment of school desks, the manufacture of sanitiser stands, the planting of a vegetable garden, and painting of classrooms and ablution facilities.
In his speech, Lamola said, “The sports fields will ensure that learners participate in recreational and sporting facilities and not engage in activities that may bring them into conflict with the law.”
The projects were developed through the labour of offenders which is in line with Lamola’s directives that offenders needed to participate in community empowerment initiatives.
“This will enable the offenders to gain practical skills which they will use once they are released to create opportunities for themselves and also gain employment,” Lamola added.
The projects form part of the Ministerial Corporate Social Responsibility programme and are in line with Lamola’s undertaking to roll out similar projects across the nation.
