Young offenders on 240km cycle challenge
13 young offenders left the Robertson Correctional Centre on a 240km bicycle challenge to spread the message that crime doesn’t pay.
|||Cape Town - 13 young offenders, on Monday, got a taste of freedom as they left the Robertson Correctional Centre on a 240km bicycle challenge to spread the message that crime doesn’t pay.
The “Breaking the Cycle of Crime” Challenge is a four day cycle tour.
After weeks of training and preparation, the group is expected to travel a route of 240 kms within the Langeberg and Breed River municipal regions.
The 13 inmates, together with five officials, travel from Robertson Correctional Centre through Worcester, McGregor, Bonnievale and back to the correctional centre.
The young offenders would be raising awareness about the dangers and consequences of engaging in a life of crime and abusing alcohol and drugs, through sharing their stories of how the choices they made caused them to end up in prison.
The “Breaking the Cycle of Crime” project is one of the projects that falls under the President’s Award for Youth Empowerment, a national national youth programme focussed on uplifting and upskilling young people to empower them and equip them for their futures.
The President’s Award programme has strong international links and started in 1983.
The project, said Lara Kruiskamp, President Award’s CEO is “aimed at reaching at risk youth in our communities to divert them away from a life of crime, towards a positive future”.
The 13 young offenders would be sharing their stories along the route with members of the communities they stop in, and “educating those young people about the consequences of doing crime,” said Michelle Barnard, President Award’s Fundraising Manager.
Denvin Augus, a young offender who is one of the team members cycling the 240km distance, said he was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison on housebreaking and robbery charges. Augus, who used to be part of a gang, said he made terrible life decisions just to impress his friends. He shared how he used to blame his circumstances on his parents’ divorce, which occurred when he was six years old, but soon came to the realisation that he was responsible for the poor decisions he made.
“I’ve really learned so much during my time in the prison. While in prison, Mr Swart introduced me to The President’s Award Programme. I never thought I’d be able to change, but I did. I don’t want that kind of (gangster) life for myself anymore. I see life through different eyes now,” he said.
Kruiskamp said Augus is among the riders in the group who would be “taking a positive stand against crime and playing their unique role in Breaking the Cycle of Crime in South Africa”.
Some of the activities the young people engage in during the programme include learning new skills, participating in regular physical recreational activities such as sport and dance, voluntary community work and experiencing the personal challenges of an adventurous journey over several days.
According to statistics from the International Centre of Prison Studies, as of March 2015, there were a total of 159 241 prisoners in South African prisons.
The National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO) has put the number of prisoners under the age of 25 at 54 717. These statistics, Bernard said, “do not include juveniles who for the most part have been moved to secure care facilities away from SA prisons”.
According to the programme, over 55 000 young South Africans aged between 14 – 25 years old “are sleeping in a prison or secure care centre”.
Janine Hansen, President’s Award Operations Manager, said: “This initiative has been inspired by the determined actions and civic responsibility of the young offenders and their Award Leader, Kobus Swart from Robertson Correctional Centre, who believe that the Award can change lives and divert young people away from a life of crime”.
ANA