VRYHEID KZN: Female offenders commemorate Women’s Month

As we all know, the government of South Africa declared August as Women’s Month… With this in mind, Vryheid Correctional Services celebrated Women’s Day last week Thursday with their female offenders.

The theme of the day was ‘Generation Realising Women’s Rights for an Equal Future’. Mrs Naidoo shared words of wisdom and read some Scripture from Jeremiah 29 verse 11, where it says, ‘’I the Lord know the plans I have for you’’ and she opened the event with a prayer.

Mr Sithebe, who is the head of Vryheid Correctional Services, warmly welcomed everyone present in the hall and mentioned that they were there to celebrate women

. The purpose of the day was presented by Ms Mazwi from Ncome Correctional Services, who said, “The purpose of us being here is that we have special people who are incarcerated here in Vryheid. We are moving with the theme of ‘The Year of Charlotte Maxeke’, who had a great singing voice and worked very hard for the church. We align ourselves with Charlotte Maxeke, as she made sure that women’s rights were fought for. She was also the first black woman to obtain a degree at a university. We are also here to encourage you to study. Although you have been taken away from the community, we want to remind you that we are here with you as women,” she said as she addressed the female offenders.

Ms Mazwi touched on a few aspects that women should follow in their lives; the first being love and having respect for each other – have self-love and also love for the next person. She said women must learn to be strong and courageous: “Let us choose our own path; let us not follow other people’s way and also learn to walk away from situations that no longer serve our path.” She also mentioned that the ladies should learn to be independent: “Be your own woman! Let us be kind and compassionate, always have a positive word to say to the next woman, and don’t wish bad things for one another. Remember that you are not going to stay here forever – you will eventually go out into our communities and you have to shine. Whatever you did does not necessarily matter now, but remember that you are important to your sisters and your family as a whole, and also to society,” she concluded.

Edwin Jass from JICS (Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services) was the guest speaker on the day. He shared a few words with the ladies, saying, ”God knows we are not perfect. Sometimes you are forced by circumstances to do certain things, but the question is: What are you going to do after you have done those things? You are going to change your life – you need to forgive yourself and move forward. Sometimes God puts us into situations, but remember that He is still God. Being in prison is not the end of the world, but is actually the beginning; you become a renewed person. Forgive them in your societies as they may judge you, because forgiveness brings peace. But before anyone else, forgive yourself first,” he said.

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