MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Members of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and other stakeholders reached out to the Nokuthula Disabled Care Centre to do their part for Mandela Month. 

The outreach was done on 31 July, to bring Mandela Month to a close. Kompo Kgoboko, the Head of Prison, and Bongiwe Dlwati, Head of Community Corrections, led the initiative.

The project aim was to improve the living conditions at the centre by levelling and paving the grounds, constructing access ramps and handing out toiletries, bed linen and cutlery. 

A poverty alleviation garden that will aid in the residents' food security was also started. 

Both parolees and probationers were involved in the project, while various stakeholders from the business sector and other state departments also helped to make it a success. 

Director Rika Botes, the DCS's Area Commissioner for the Southern Cape, highlighted the importance of social reintegration programmes, noting their role in reducing stigmatisation and creating pathways for individuals to re-enter society with dignity. 

Director Rika Botes, the DCS's Area Commissioner for the Southern Cape.

"Community programmes such as these are vital tools to welcome back those who have wronged the community, offering them a second chance." 

Dlwati said the DCS's mandate is to ensure that parolees and probationers participate in projects that uplift the living conditions of vulnerable groups in the community, especially in communities they have brought harm to. 

Alma Kapp, the Mossel Bay Municipality's Community development co-ordinator, explained how the DCS's initiative served a bigger purpose in ultimately helping Nokuthula meet its required norms and standards. The Department of Social Development provides support in this endeavour. 

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’