Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola will on Thursday hand over a fully furnished house to Mme Maria Motale in Ntswelengwe village in Kuruman.
The downtrodden Motale, who is partially blind, previously resided in a minuscule one-roomed mud house with her 30-year-old son.
According to the ministry the new house, built through offender labour, is in line with the Department of Correctional Services’ perspective to affirm that inmates advance community empowerment approaches throughout their incarceration.
“This initiative further imparts skills to inmates upon their release from correctional centres but more importantly aimed at giving back to communities that they have harmed,” said the department in a statement.
“This is in line with minister Lamola’s undertaking during his budget vote to build three houses for victims of crime and the destitute, with one house built in Nongoma [KwaZulu-Natal] and the other in Nyanga [Western Cape], currently under construction.
“Subsequent to the handover, minister Lamola will further host an anti-gender-based violence imbizo in Manyeding village.”
It further said this will ensure the department’s efforts aimed towards encouraging communities to value, as well as uphold their rights as envisaged in the constitution while promoting active public participation in the implementation of justice services.
The ministry further noted that these platforms afford communities opportunities to directly interact with the government while allowing them to ensure accountability is realised.
“Furthermore, this allows for a free flow of information, as well as frank and robust discussions which are tenets on which a thriving democracy and efficient service delivery are premised.”
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