Offender tells his story to persuade young people not to commit crime
A Witbank Paxton Prison inmate cautions the youth about crime after spending his entire youth in prison.
In honour of Youth Month, an offender in Witbank Paxton Prison tells his story and urges young people to avoid crime.
“I spent my youth in jail,” says Jabu Shabangu (43).
He tells his story and counsels young people.
Jabu was charged with murder and he has already spent 19 years in prison.
“I remember what happened to me on October 5, 2004, like it was yesterday. It was eight o’clock in the evening, and that was the end of my freedom,” he said.
He stated that he had a future, a career, and everything, but one mistake ruined his youth, and now he is in jail.
He’s spent time in five different prisons, but he has survived because of what’s inside of him and how he was raised.
That doesn’t change the fact that his parents believed he was fine, and he is still proud of himself now.
He wishes the youth could learn a lot from them to avoid making the same mistakes. “I’m very disappointed when I see youth not learning from us. Young people love the streets too much. There are street influencers, and they are very good. I’m talking about those people who are selling drugs and doing crime and whom young people dedicate their lives. Those are the people who are their role models, who are driving those fancy cars and impressing everyone who desires to be seen as a big thing,” he said.
Jabu is advising all the youth out there stating that, “I plead with the young people to stay away from those street influencers. You find young people going with drugs to school. They armed themselves with guns and knives at schools, intending to forget that they should be arming themselves with a pen and paper. They forget that a clever person will achieve and not be seen with a gun or knife,” Jabu said.
Jabu concluded with these words to the youth, “I will tell you all the truth. I don’t want to be your role model, but if you want to continue with the people from the streets, there are so many jail uniforms. We even have bigger cells. Prison is not a nice place to be, and you are lucky to still have your freedom. I spent my youth in jail.”
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