Men behind bars speak out against abuse

August is celebrated as Women’s Month and the Herald was invited to visit Medium A Section at the Ncome Correctional Services, where a group of men who call themselves ‘Voices Of Men Behind Bars’ meet on a regular basis to raise their voices against gender-based violence (GBV). These men were previously part of this type of violence, and they have killed and raped both women and children during their rages on the ‘outside’. But the group of men say they have rehabilitated themselves and have come to terms with their horrid crimes by pleading for forgiveness from their victims’ families, as well as their own families. Most of all, they had to forgive themselves, which is still a daily struggle for most of them. Three of the men in the group told their stories to the Herald.

Sibongiseni Magagula was in desperate need of money when he was allegedly approached by a local pastor who made a request for a young virgin boy’s head. The pastor allegedly made the request in 2010 and paid Magagula R50,000 as a deposit, while the rest of the R150,000 would be paid upon delivery. However, Magagula never committed the crime and spent the money. In 2014, he needed money again and remembered the request from the pastor. When a young boy knocked on Magagula’s door to ask for sugar cane, he used the opportunity and hacked the boy’s body into pieces, before delivering him in a black bag at the pastor’s house. The pastor’s children saw Magagula and on closer investigation, they discovered the body parts in the bag. Magagula received three life sentences for the crime. During his time in prison, he realised he was part of the problem of violence against women and children, and since he has a daughter himself, he repented and is now an avid voice for the group.

Lindela Khanyeza shared his story for the first time. At the young age of 14 years old, Khanyeza started committing petty crimes and at the age of 16, he had a criminal record for shoplifting and house break-ins. ‘One of my sisters was raped and no justice was served, so I thought it was okay to rape women,” said Khanyeza. He abused women, including those he dated. In 2001, while robbing a house, he raped a woman who was of another race, but he doesn’t want to disclose the race of the woman. He was arrested in July of that year and sentenced four years later. He had the intention of confessing, but he says the prosecutor (who was also a woman of the same race as that of his victim) made it difficult for him to do so. Khanyeza continued by stating that he hated women when he got arrested, and kept on committing crimes while in prison. He said that he lost his direction in life due to peer pressure in school. While in prison, he had a lot of time to think and thought about his mother in the same situation as his victim; this made him repent. Khanyeza is part of the Victims Offender Dialogue (VOD) programme and he was supposed to have a conversation with his victim in January. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this could not take place and then the lockdown was implemented. He is first on the programme’s list once lockdown is lifted.

A third offender who shared his story said he hated women because he blamed his brother’s suicide on one. He became abusive towards women, especially the ones he was involved with. He got angry with his girlfriend and stabbed her to death. He then told his sisters what he had done. At first, they thought he was joking, but then they discovered the lifeless body of his girlfriend. They alerted the police and this made him hate women even more. During his first three months in prison, he had no remorse, but then his conscience started talking to him when he met other offenders who spoke about their crimes and supported each other. He apologised to his family, as well as his girlfriend’s family, but the hardest part is to forgive himself. He said the programme is a great initiative and it gives offenders a positive mindset. He has daughters and he worries about their safety, which has helped him to repent and change his behaviour, since he wants to become part of the positive change in society.

Out of the approximately 700 arrests of men who commit crimes against women and children, statistics show that 80% are committed under the influence of alcohol and only 20% committed while sober.

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