To promote child education, officials from Zonderwater Correctional Services in Cullinan handed over a new classroom to Retang Primary School in Moloto.
The Grade R building was handed over by Buyani Lukhele, the centre head at Zonderwater, on January 19.
According to a media statement released by Mashudu Mutamba, the communication officer for Zonderwater Correctional Services, the school has 1 496 learners and faces overcrowding challenges.
Parents, the school governing body, councillors and representatives attended the handing-over ceremony by the Department of Education.
The group attested to the offenders’ labour skills. The status of the offenders was changed by correctional officials to parolees and probationers so they could be reintegrated into the community without stigmatization.
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The classrooms were left unfinished for more than five years. Zonderwater Community Corrections head Thandiwe Maya said they could not sit with folded hands when asked to help complete the building.
Completion resumed on March 30 last year and included fixing the plaster, partitioning the classrooms, the installation of doors and the ceiling, tiling, painting and roofing.
The parolees and probationers completed the classrooms while correctional officials made plumbing and electrical work possible.
Principal Betty Nthebe was amazed at the gesture and the stakeholders’ relationship with Zonderwater correctional officials since the start of the project. She shared the discomfort experienced by her learners when they were crammed into 24 classrooms.
“I commend the positive response and work done by correctional services officials and their offenders’ labour. Because of budget constraints, the completion would not have been possible for us,” said Nthebe.
Nthebe added that the handover came at the right time because the learners can’t wait to relocate to their new Grade R classrooms, which include a waiting room, administrative block, kitchen and bathrooms.
Shawana Mashabela, a learner, was overwhelmed with joy. She thanked correctional services officials for the humanitarian gesture.
Mashabela said that last year Zonderwater had saved them from the humility of walking barefoot or in torn shoes to school because they donated school shoes.
“We, the children of the poor, the children raised by single and unemployed parents, the children who are orphaned, we thank you,” Mashabela said.
To show their appreciation, the learners performed various dances.
“The learners believe that ex-offenders, parolees and probationers are also parents and should be accepted in the community as they realise the mistakes that led them into custody,” said Mutamba.
“Zonderwater Correctional officials ‘adopt’ nearby schools yearly where maintenance and other services are rendered. This includes the donation of shoes and food parcels to learners from disadvantaged families.
“The good work of rendering services for the adopted school by correctional officials for the 2023/2024 financial year is already underway,” Mutamba concluded.
