NICRO Annual Report 2003-2004

GLYNIS ABRAHAMS PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR

NICRO KwaZulu-Natal welcomed on board a new provincial director, Glynis Abrahams, who relocated from Cape Town to take up her new position. She brings with her a wealth of experience in the nongovernmental sector, having specialised in the socio-legal and human rights fields. Our many accomplishments during the period under review could not have been achieved without the dedication and commitment of the Provincial Management Committee, staff and volunteers, who unstintingly served both the organisation and our clients. We thank you all wholeheartedly.

Community Victim Support

NICRO KwaZulu-Natal has developed and maintained 15 community victim support centres in both peri-urban and rural areas. Much emphasis has been placed on capacity building by sensitising other service providers and equipping those rendering services with a wide range of skills to address the many needs of victims of crime and violence. Community members, who have been trained as volunteers to render frontline victim support services, have become our principal asset and assisted us greatly in achieving our goals. Work in the rural area of Muden has continued at a pace and, given the developments with the production centre, much of the work has been undertaken in collaboration with Economic Opportunities Project staff.

The NICRO Programme for Perpetrators of Domestic Violence was implemented as a pilot project in Ntuzuma, north of Durban. The programme got off to a slow start in April 2003 and then gained momentum as the court increased its referrals. Early in 2004 the researcher conducting a formative evaluation of the programme visited the province. She engaged with beneficiaries of the programme, NICRO staff and criminal justice personnel during the course of her study. Once the pilot project and relevant research have been completed, the necessary amendments will be made to the programme, its implementation will continue and expansion to other areas undertaken.

Diversion and Youth Development

As a major Diversion Programme service provider in the province, we are pleased to report that services have expanded significantly to rural areas and that NICRO KwaZulu-Natal now receives referrals from magistrates courts as far afield as Ndwedwe, Umbumbulu, Maphumulo, Mahlabathini, Harding and Kokstad. A Journey Programme co-ordinator has been selected from the Diversion team to facilitate The Journey throughout the province. The primary focus has been on strengthening the vocational skills and community service components as well as after-care services.

The Diversion Programme has also made noteworthy headway in terms of its crime prevention and schools intervention initiatives. Crime prevention work was conducted in rural schools in Umbumbulu, Maphumulo and Ndwedwe, while an anti-substance abuse project was piloted in four schools in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality, SANCA, Newlands Park Centre and VOICE. As part of the drive to address teenage substance abuse, NICRO KwaZulu-Natal also initiated Teenagers Against Drug Abuse (TADA) groups in a secondary school.

Offender Reintegration

The two community development workers who augment offender reintegration services are based in the Bulwer and Impendle areas of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Our community development projects, which have been designed and implemented to assist and support former offenders, their families and members of the community in which they reside, involve a process of entering the community, establishing contact with both formal and informal leadership as well as undertaking a needs assessment to ensure that services are appropriate.

Projects include home-based care provided by a group of community members who have been trained as care workers and provide a valuable service in their neighbourhoods, a block and fence making project, a poultry concern and a community vegetable garden.

The provincial team has developed a guide for the implementation of the Tough Enough Programme, an essential tool for the induction of new staff that has also proved useful when marketing the intervention to potential participants and officials from the Department of Correctional Services.

The annual Creative Arts and Crafts Competition attracted entries from 23 prisons, and 875 craft items and artworks by 260 offenders were showcased at this year’s exhibition. Cash prizes were awarded to the offenders who created the winning entries at a successful awards function.

LUCKY MORE PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR

Despite trying circumstances and a number of significant challenges, NICRO Limpopo was nevertheless able to celebrate some fine achievements during the year under review. The province experienced an extremely high staff turnover as a result of several resignations, including that of the provincial director, two service deliverers and the administrative officer. For an organisation with a small staff complement this can have an overwhelming impact on service delivery. Nevertheless services continued uninterrupted albeit at a slower pace. The few remaining staff members, together with a committed volunteer support base, resolutely dedicated themselves to NICRO’s vision and mission and the rendering of diversion and victim support services as well as the running of the Economic Opportunities Project.

Community Victim Support

In addition to rendering a comprehensive range of victim and witness support services, NICRO Limpopo initiated several noteworthy projects and activities:

National Women’s Day was celebrated in the Malamulele area, an event which featured the Premier of the Limpopo Province as keynote speaker. Community public hearings in Mooankweng and Matlala were conducted in collaboration with the Commission on Gender Equality, NAPWA (National Association for People Living with Aids), SANGOCO, the Departments of Justice and Correctional Services, the South African Police Services, the Seshego Victim Support Centre, community police forums and traditional leaders to address gender-based violence and HIV/Aids issues.

A NICRO conference entitled -The Role of Women in the 21st Century‚ and sponsored by Metropolitan was attended by representatives from the government’s Communication and Information Systems unit, members of the media, NICRO North West’s provincial director and other invited guests. Academics and experts from a range of disciplines conducted presentations and shared their views on gender-based violence (Professor M M D Makofane from the University of the North), poverty alleviation and HIV/Aids (Phillipine Meso from NAPWA) and moral regeneration (Ms K Moholwane) among other topics.

NICRO acknowledges the entire provincial team, Rachel Koka, the then volunteer and now full-time Community Victim Support volunteer coordinator as well as other victim and witness support volunteers for their efforts in ensuring the success of the event. Diversion and Youth Development

NICRO Limpopo’s five loyal and dedicated volunteers ensured that Diversion services to young people in conflict with the law continued unbroken and successfully maintained effective relationships with all stakeholders. One of these volunteers, Tsakane Mathebula, was so enterprising that he has now been employed on a full-time basis to co-ordinate the Diversion Programme.

NICRO Limpopo celebrated and commemorated June 16, National Youth Day, in collaboration with the South African Police Services, the Bosasa Place of Safety, the Beulah Centre, Faranani Family Preservation, the Black Star Line People’s Movement and surrounding schools.

Economic Opportunities Project

Despite both financial and staffing challenges the Economic Opportunities Project did well under the circumstances. Ongoing support services were provided to previously trained entrepreneurs and local economic development projects. Project Manager Mapolanka Paul Makgoba, in conjunction with GCIS, conducted several information seminars and radio talks to promote the services of the organisation.

A certification ceremony for EOP clients attended by project partners GCIS, the Department of Labour, the Limpopo Youth Commission, VOLSA, Radio Turf, traditional leaders and representatives from the taxi industry, took place in September 2003.

In Conclusion

NICRO Limpopo concluded the financial year on a positive note with all posts being filled following the appointment of a new provincial director, two service deliverers and a Community Victim Support volunteer coordinator. Following the departure of the administrative officer, Sarah Maponya, a volunteer, stepped into the breach and kept things running smoothly until Mapolanka Paul Makgoba was transferred to the position.

Volunteers form the backbone of our operational activities and we are deeply indebted to all our Diversion and Community Victim Support Programme volunteers for their dedication and commitment. NICRO Limpopo would also like to salute the members of the Provincial Management Committee for their enthusiastic support and efforts to keep the organisation on track following the resignation of the former provincial director. Finally we would also like to pay tribute to all our donors, without whose support we would not be in a position to serve our clients and communities in which they reside to the extent that we do.