[blindza] FW: Convicts see the light as they help mom
- From: "Jacob Kruger" <jacobk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "BlindZA" <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:50:20 +0200
---original message---
Independent Online - South Africa
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Convicts see the light as they help mom
By Mzwanele Mkalipi
August 19 2007 at 04:00PM
Convicts with bricklaying skills escaped their cells for a day to start
building a house for a blind woman in desperate straits.
Prisoners from Goodwood Prison gathered at Ilitha Park in Khayelitsha on
Saturday in their orange attire, ready to get to work.
It was a special day for visually impaired Thozama Zothe, 37, who wept tears
of joy as local government officials unveiled the plot where her 72m2 house
was set to go up.
'This is an emotional day for me'
The house will have two bedrooms, a lounge, dining room, kitchen and a
bathroom.
"This is an emotional day for me. I can't believe what I'm experiencing now,
after knowing the place where I come from," Zothe said.
The mother of two lives with her children in Wynberg Tenterdin, a safe home
for women and children.
She used to live in a flooded shack in an informal settlement in
Khayelitsha, but MEC for Social Development Kholeka Mqulwana suggested she
move somewhere
safer. One of her daughters was attacked when she was just five years old.
On Saturday Zothe said: "I'm the happiest person now, and my kids will no
longer be in danger of being victims again.
'My kids will no longer be in danger of being victims again'
"I can't believe this, I'm really thrilled, I never believed it when I was
told that they were going to build me a house."
Correctional Services provided some inmates to build the new home as part of
their rehabilitation programme. They seemed to enjoy the change.
"I'm feeling great to be here, in making sure that I contribute by giving
back to the communities we have hurt," said convict Edward Adams, who has
three
months left of his five-year sentence for being in possession of an
unlicensed firearm.
"I want to make sure this woman will have a roof over her head one day."
Correctional Services deputy regional commissioner James Smalberger said
this was a gesture from the prisoners to pay back communities they had hurt.
Faizal Motlekar, group executive chairperson of M5 Developments, which is
providing concrete and other materials, said they had joined hands with the
government
to help in service delivery.
Motlekar said they would also give the family R1 000 a month for the next 12
months.
"I was touched after the premier (Ebrahim Rasool) approached us two weeks
ago and told us the conditions this woman lived under," Motlekar said.
The house should be completed by September 7.
This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on August 19,
2007
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070819084740722C321776
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