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Gerhard Janse Van Vuuren
Provincial Director
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The year 2002 concluded with our first provincial Biennial
General meeting taking place in November at Brooke Suites
in Port Elizabeth. Thirty-four role-players attended and
expressed their high regard for the exceptional quality and
extent of the services that NICRO Eastern Cape renders in
both the urban and rural areas of the province.
An achievement of note was the presentation of the Spar
Young Achiever Award 2002 to NICRO Eastern Cape Board of
Management Chairperson, Ms Ellanda Yerolemou.
In February 2003 the province embarked upon an organizational
development process with Joep Joubert, a human resources
consultant from Cape Town. Staff embraced the process with
energy, openness and a positive attitude.
Community Victim Support
The Community Victim Support Programme (CVS), in partnership
with Business Against Crime, focused on establishing victim-friendly
facilities in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape where there
is a particular need for our services as there are no other
NGOs operative. Given the importance of equipping those rendering
services with a wide range of skills to address the many
needs of victims, volunteers and project steering committees
were trained in Elliot, Fort Beaufort, Mlungisi, Umtata and
Grahamstown.
NICRO’s Rape Support Centre at Dora Nginza Hospital
played a vital role by rendering essential support services
and distributing anti-retroviral medication to rape survivors.
Volunteers now have the added responsibility of conducting
pre- and post-test counselling as well as undertaking follow-up
counseling for up to one year after clients have been given
medication. The Centre attends to an average of 75 rape
survivors each month, at least half of whom are under the
age of 14 years.
The Programme for Perpetrators of Domestic Violence is
in great demand in Port Elizabeth. We currently run three
groups a week, and have a list of perpetrators waiting
to participate. The programme has also been launched in
East London where it is used as a diversion option.
Diversion
Much attention has been afforded to developing capacity and
training during the reporting period. In Graaff Reinet NICRO
trained three probation officers and a volunteer in the implementation
of the life skills programme, Pre-Trial Community Service
and the crime prevention programme for the Graaff Reinet
magisterial office. Volunteer training was also conducted
for the Grahamstown magisterial district.
A four-day follow-up training session for all SAYSTOP
facilitators from the Port Elizabeth magisterial district
took place in June 2002 and was attended by 22 facilitators.
The diversion team attended a special child law workshop
orchestrated by the Child Justice Alliance at which probation
officers, police officials and prosecutors were also present.
NICRO Eastern Cape used this opportunity to lobby and advocate
for the implementation of the Child Justice Bill. Our recommendations
in this regard were incorporated into NICRO National Office’s
submission, which was forwarded to parliament.
NICRO and the Department of Education are in the process
of conducting a needs analysis and discussing a plan to
implement crime prevention programmes in certain high priority
schools. Volunteers in Port Elizabeth have already been
trained to assist with the facilitation of the programme.
Economic Opportunities Project
The Economic Opportunities Project provided entrepreneurial
training for 72 aspiring entrepreneurs, 22 of whom have already
successfully started their own micro enterprises and this
despite the difficulties this sector has in accessing finance.
In the process, 69 new jobs were created, of which 44 (64%)
provided new income generating opportunities for women.
Offender Reintegration
In October 2002, the Offender Reintegration (OR) and the
Diversion teams jointly conducted a seminar in Port Elizabeth
geared towards improving communication between clients and
members of their families. In April 2003, the OR team conducted
a seminar aimed at introducing stakeholders to the concept
of restorative justice in East London. Released OR clients
as well as representatives from a range of NGOs, state departments
the community attended. The response was overwhelming positive
and those present expressed a keen interest to implement
restorative justice principles.
The Programme Manager, Ms Thuli Seseng, took charge of
30 clients who were placed in the Working for Water project
from December 2002 to March 2003. Each of these clients
completed the entire Tough Enough Project Programme and
was supported throughout his placement. Six participants
subsequently secured permanent employment with the Working
for Water project.
Following the national training workshop aimed at enhancing
the involvement of communities in the Tough Enough Programme
in August 2002, the Port Elizabeth and East London OR teams
approached community-based organisations to explore the possibility
of placing clients with them for skills development purposes.
While this venture is still in its development phase, we
are hopeful that it will pay handsome dividends for our clients.
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Individual |
Workshops |
Total |
| CVS |
5869 |
2391 |
8260 |
| DIV |
2224 |
142 |
2366 |
| OR |
248 |
437 |
685 |
| EOP |
1333 |
191 |
1524 |
| Total |
4356 |
3161 |
12835 |
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