Masupatsela

REALISTIC
DIRECTED and EDITED by TINA-LOUISE SMITH
TX 5 October 2009

When Solomon Madikane completed matric, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew that he wanted to work with people. After a few years with Good Hope Bank in Cape Town, he successfully applied for a position with the then Department of Correctional Services. During his ten years with Correctional Services, Solomon was saddened by the levels of recidivism and realised that society was not geared towards helping prisoners reintegrate  once they were released from jail. The only thing to do was to do it himself!

After endless talks with his friend and mentor, John Gilmour, the two of them established Realistic (Rebuilding and Lifeskills Training Centre) in Gugulethu NY6 in 2004. Many of the first participants in the initial programme were prisoners that Solomon had worked with during his job as a prison warder.

At Realistic parolees are taught numerous things: including lifeskills where they are encouraged to talk to others about the problems they may be facing; basic computer skills that give them access to the job market; and pottery skills that facilitate meditative moments of reflection and healing.

Today Realistic is proud to report that none of the parolees who have attended their programme has returned to prison. At the time of filming there were 136 parolees and youth at risk who had successfully passed through the Realistic programme.

In today’s story we meet two former parolees, Wanda Malungisa and Basil Gqamane. Wanda is a restorative justice facilitator at Realistic, who guides parolees through their introduction to Realistic and supports them through the programme. Basil started out as a participant with Realistic and now he works as a fieldworker, who follows-up with the parolees’ families to ensure they are being supported in their efforts to reintegrate by those closest to them. Basil’s life has also changed since his involvement with Realistic and he has been able to focus on what he would like to achieve for himself.

We also meet Oscar, a parolee on the programme, who values the support he gets from Realistic to the extent that he calls Realistic and the team ‘my parents’.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT, OR TO CONTRIBUTE TO REALISTIC:
visit their web site or contact Solomon on +27 82 627 8846 or at the office at +27 21 633 1800.

THE WORK REALISTIC DOES REQUIRES SENSITIVITY AND 100% COMMITMENT.

TO PROVIDE SIMILAR OPPORTUNITIES FOR PAROLEES WHERE YOU LIVE, HERE IS WHAT SOLOMON DID:
- get people who share your vision of rehabilitation and restorative justice on board to support and encourage you
- draw-up your organisation’s constitution to guide your operation
- together decide on the board members and their roles
- register your organisation as a non-profit organisation
- go door-to-door-to-door for funding
- find a space from which you can operate and run courses for the parolees
- work long and hard to keep the funding coming in, so that you can do great work!

GROUP OF HOPE
We also follow-up with the Group of Hope, the prison organisation started by the social worker, Jacobus Pansegrouw at Brandvlei Prison. The inmates with the Group of Hope act as substitute fathers for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in the communities where the prisons are based.

We learn from Mrs Mvandaba-Kokong, the Western Cape Regional Head of Development and Care, that the Group of Hope has expanded from Brandvlei in Worcester to other prisons in the Western Cape. Also, that Thabo Zondo, featured in Masupatsela Series I, has been moved from the Brandvlei Maximum Security Prison to a medium security prison in Goodwood, Cape Town and has enrolled in a management course with Damelin College.

SCREEN GRABS FROM THE REALISTIC STORY: