NICRO Annual Report 2003-2004

YASHINA PILLAY PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR

The past twelve months have been a rewarding period for NICRO Mpumalanga in the light of challenges faced in previous years that have now been successfully overcome. The province is on stable ground and reaching new heights. One of the greatest accomplishments is that NICRO Mpumalanga has shown a surplus in both the most recently completed financial years.

The year under review was the first during which a Provincial Management Committee was established in the province, following the election of its board members at NICRO Mpumalanga’s first fully constituted Biennial General Meeting held in March 2003.

Another first for member organisations was the formation of the Mpumalanga Crime Prevention Coalition (MCPC), a major provincial initiative that has brought together Business Against Crime (BAC), the Greater Nelspruit Rape Intervention Programme (GRIP), Lifeline and NICRO in the fight against crime. It is the aim of this coalition to promote good working relations between non-profit organisations, and in partnership with government, to ensure that the communities we serve derive the maximum benefit.

The coalition already succeeded in launching its first pilot project, a victim friendly facility that has been established at the Nelspruit police station in partnership with the South African Police Services. We are optimistic that we will be in a position to replicate this initiative at other police stations in the province.

Significant inroads have been made in terms of all NICRO Mpumalanga’s programmes and we have laid a solid foundation from which to offer effective and efficient services in the province. Enhanced stakeholder engagement and networking has ensured the good state of health NICRO currently enjoys and heightened the organisation’s profile in the province.

Diversion and Youth Development

An encouraging milestone was the Diversion Programme’s securing of a tender to train 21 assistant probation officers from the Department of Social Development. The recognition afforded NICRO by this Department has served as an important motivating factor for our decision to expand in new directions and appoint a second Diversion staff member in the new financial year In August 2003, during a visit by the National Programme Specialist, NICRO hosted a successful workshop on Diversion services and the Child Justice Bill that was well attended by prosecutors, probation officers and other stakeholders in the province.

The Provincial Director and provincial staff spent a day with participants of the Journey Wilderness Therapy Programme. This served as a team building and learning exercise as well as an opportunity for the children to interact with staff outside the confines of the NICRO Office.

Economic Opportunities

The very close working relationship forged during the past year between the Economic Opportunities Project (EOP) and the Diversion and Offender Reintegration Programmes has borne fruit. The alignment of EOP with our national vision of focussing our efforts on existing Diversion and Offender Reintegration clients has been extremely fulfilling for both staff and beneficiaries.

This year formal agreements were concluded with Legal Wise and BUSCOR in our efforts to secure job placement for our clients. NICRO Mpumalanga has also established a working relationship with Ecolink, a non profit organisation, which afforded a group of unemployed men and women the opportunity of receiving skills training in earth care and farming as well as seedlings to start up their own sustainable farming venture. The forging and maintaining of partnerships to improve the economic opportunities of our clients, and thus reduce crime, has been a driving force behind the success of EOP.

In February 2004 the Economic Opportunities Project participated in an arts and crafts fair organised by the Department of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation. NICRO’s involvement proved to be a very effective marketing and networking opportunity as well as an occasion to make our services accessible to a wider audience.

The EOP service deliverer compiled an intervention manual for offenders covering topics such as communication skills, the preparation of a curriculum vitae, how to go about conducting a successful job interview and the preparation of a business plan. This publication has proved to be very effective in preparing offenders to achieve economic empowerment and independence upon release.

Offender Reintegration

NICRO has forged a close working relationship with the Department of Correctional Services in the province. At a Restorative Justice event hosted by the Department both provincial prison authorities and offenders commended NICRO for its fine service. In September 2003 NICRO and the Department of Correctional Services jointly staged a Heritage Day celebration in the rural area of Tonga.

Tough Enough Programme sessions offered by the Offender Reintegration team in Nelspruit Prison also draws upon the expertise of other stakeholders who are invited to facilitate sessions with participants. This affords inmates the chance of obtaining expert information and exploring all avenues open to them upon release. In this way the Offender Reintegration Programme has made great strides by successfully bridging the gap between the offender and the community at large.

In Conclusion

From very challenging beginnings NICRO Mpumalanga has proved that with a shared vision and mission, along with a motivated team, we can achieve service excellence at all levels. We would like to thank our Provincial Management Committee, dedicated staff and volunteers, as well as all our benefactors and partners for sharing our vision of a safer South Africa.

HEINRICH ZANA PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR

NICRO Northern Cape looks back on the past year with pride. We have made great strides in terms of service delivery and the province has prospered financially.

Although the Diversion Programme was adversely affected by a reduction in donor funding, we successfully implemented the Galeshewe Youth Initiative, a project forming part of the Department of Social Services’ poverty alleviation programme and the Galeshewe Urban Renewal Project. More than 100 young people participated in the programme, which includes life skills training, wilderness therapy, skills training and community service components. These young people together served hundreds of hours as voluntary workers for the Department of Social Services, the Retlameleng Home for the Disabled, the Thusong Children’s Home, the Lerato Place of Safety, the Safe Haven Aids Home and many other non-profit organisations engaged in rendering services to the community.

The Community Victim Support Programme, which has made great progress since its establishment in January 2003, now has two fully established centres offering comprehensive communitybased support services to victims of crime and violence in Hartswater and Jan Kempdorp. NICRO is the only non-profit organisation working in these areas, which are constituted predominantly by deprived communities, and we are hopeful that our services will continue to strengthen and that additional staff can be appointed

Work also commenced in Phillipstown, a typically underresourced and poverty-stricken rural community located 60 kilometres from De Aar. Infrastructure is largely undeveloped or severely underdeveloped, unemployment is rife and there is a dearth of social services. We are intent on providing the support required to address Phillipstown’s boarder and longterm developmental needs.

The Offender Reintegration Programme’s annual Prison Art Competition proved to be one of the highlights of the year. For the first time it was expanded to include emerging artists and former offenders who would otherwise not have had the opportunity of exhibiting their work. The opening night of the art exhibition, at which MEC Fred Wyngaardt from the Department of Social Services and Population Development was the guest speaker, attracted more than 150 guests who were regaled by an exceptional performance from the Kimberley Prison choir.

On this occasion MEC Wyngaardt pledged a welcome donation of R 20,000 towards the purchase of art material for prisoners on behalf of his department, for which we are most grateful. We would also like to express our gratitude to the William Humphries Art Gallery for its integral role in ensuring the success of the exhibition and for facilitating the establishment of a new partnership with the Department of Correctional Services. The gallery now instructs female inmates of the Kimberley Prison in the art of embroidery and beadwork.

Service delivery in the Northern Cape involves having to travel vast distances and until recently NICRO had only one vehicle with which to cover the province. Given our financial stability we were in a position to acquire four additional vehicles during the past year, thus ensuring that five of the six services points have their own transport at their disposal.

NICRO Northern Cape would like to thank the Provincial Management Committee, staff and volunteers as well as all our donors and partners who have joined us in the fight against crime, because crime is, after all, everyone’s business.