Leeuwkop Prison held their annual academic honours and achievers awards ceremony to recognise prisoners on 13 April in a bid to show the community what they can achieve, even while being in prison.
A group of inmates were honoured for choosing a step in the right direction – education. Some received their matric certificates, some their diplomas and others their degrees.
One of the inmates, Pastor Richard Thabane said, “It is important to make the most of a bad situation and we all choose to see whether the glass is half full or half empty. We are celebrating these academic achieving prisoners today because they choose what to see in life, as that determines one’s end.”
The entertainment for the day was from outsiders, as they entertained prisoners with dancing, singing and poetry.
Another inmate and speaker at the ceremony, James Mashaba said, “The purpose of this day is to recognise these prisoners who choose to use the pen rather than the sword – which got us in here. We believe that the pen is mightier than the sword. We also acknowledged… that we hurt people outside with the sword we used, so the prisoners have now been educated about what they can do to equip themselves and be something when they come out.”
The message of the day was that ‘change is possible’ as the other inmates were given the motivation that they too can achieve academically and become useful members of society.
One of the sponsors of the ceremony and owner of Black Child It’s Possible company, Billy-Guy Bhembe said, “It is important for one not to disregard these inmates as some of them are here at their first attempt at crime. What is also important for the inmates to know is that they cannot do the same thing and expect different results, change needs to happen.”
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