The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) today launched the annual Corrections Week. The launch was held at the Goodwood Correctional Facility’s Art Gallery and was attended by national minister dr. Pieter Groenewald and national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale.

Groenewald also delivered the keynote address.

In his address, he spoke on the department’s self-sufficiency and sustainability programme and how its primary goal is to increase the department’s ability to become less dependent on state resources, while equipping offenders with skills that carry value beyond the prison’s gate.

“One of the primary focus areas of our self-sufficiency and sustainability initiatives is commercialising offender arts and crafts. Offenders create artwork and artefacts using state-procured materials, which we display in our art galleries and sell to the public to recover operational costs and generate revenue for the department,” Groenewald said.

Skills

In correctional centres, offenders develop skills in woodwork, steelwork, textiles, sewing, leatherwork, beadwork, painting, and arts, creating artefacts and handcrafted products.

Groenewald said this help offenders discover hidden abilities. “Leather becomes a finished product; beads turn into jewellery; a blank canvas becomes art. In this process, individuals who thought their future was limited see new possibilities beyond incarceration. This exemplifies rehabilitation,” he said.

Incarcerated people are human, capable of learning, changing, and contributing positively, Groenewald said.

Participation

According to him 11 075 offenders participated in arts and crafts programmes across six regions during August of this year alone.

The exhibition at Goodwood alone carries more than 2 200 pieces.

“Over the past two financial years, sales of offender-produced arts and crafts through our art galleries have generated R138 462 in revenue, reflecting the continued marketability of offender-produced products and contributing to the department’s objective of promoting self-sufficiency and sustainability,” said Groenewald.

He said products produced in correctional centres must be fit for purpose, appropriately priced, well-presented, and produced according to defined quality standards.

“The true success of rehabilitation cannot only be measured in numbers. It is measured in changed lives. It is measured when an offender who entered the correctional system without a marketable skill leaves with a skill that can support a livelihood. And it is measured when someone who once made choices that harmed others begin making choices that contribute positively to victim empowerment and society.”

Groenewald encouraged the public, businesses, and community stakeholders to visit the department’s nine galleries, to support artists, and buy arts and crafts.

“Buying from our correctional arts programme promotes skills, rehabilitation, self-sufficiency, and safer communities,” he concluded.

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