Commissioner a father to his children and offenders

With Father’s Day on June 20, the Advertiser spoke to the Boksburg area commissioner of Boksburg Correctional Services, Henny Makhubela, who is not only a father to his children but to hundreds of inmates at the Boksburg Correctional Services.

Makhubela, who plays a fatherly role in the lives of the inmates, has taken them under his wing to empower and motivate them to be better people by equipping them with relevant skills.

Makhubela, who will be turning 58 on Father’s Day, said it’s a privilege to be a father, although it comes with many responsibilities.

He highlighted that the way he manages the correctional centre is no different to the way he manages things at home.

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“The love I have for my six children is the love I display to the offenders. What I want for the offenders is also what I want for my children, the only difference is that the offenders have wronged the community.

“My fatherly role at the correctional centre is to rehabilitate the offenders by ensuring they attend correctional programmes that focus on their behaviour and, most importantly, ensuring they are equipped educationally through occupational and vocational training. As a father, I also ensure they are kept in a safe, conducive area to uphold their dignity as human beings.”

The Springs resident said he always motivates inmates to want to do more and have the zeal to learn so when they are released into the community, they’ll be able to be independent and run their businesses.

“I’m not of the view that young people should commit a crime so they can further their studies in prison; hence, we’ve engaged with our partners that if there are people in communities who still want to further their studies in the areas we provide, like wood machining and woodwork, our doors are open. We have conducted such programmes in Heidelberg, where community members were part of the workshops to be empowered as well through skills training.”

Makhubela said as a father it’s important to plan because that’s when you visualise where you want to take your family. You have to come up with strategies that will help achieve that goal.

“It is important to organise resources that will serve as a vehicle to your destination. As a father, it is also imperative to have great leadership skills of motivating, inspiring, coaching and working with whoever you are leading. I am a hands-on manager. I always see to it that things are running smoothly at the workshops or at the skills development centre.”

About Makhubela

He was born in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, in a village called Xantia, where he completed his matric in 1983.
In 1984, he worked at the Delmas Collieries as a security guard and in 1986 he joined Writech (Barlows), where he was a production floor controller.

Due to his passion for teaching, he resigned and furthered his studies.

“My father was one of the reasons I decided to proceed with my studies. I remember when I would visit him in Katlehong, he would boast about me to his friends that one day I would attain a qualification, so I wanted to make his wish a reality.”

Seeing that the Department of Correctional Services at Modderbee Management Area offered bursaries, he joined the department.

Makhubela said after completing his six-month training he enrolled with Unisa to study for a BA degree majoring in education.

“When working night shifts at the tower post, I would use the opportunity to study using a candle. When I completed the course, I was one of the first officials to have a degree. This motivated my colleagues to study further.”

In 1997, he was appointed as the assistant director of head community corrections of the Boksburg Management Area.

He has held various portfolios within the department until 2012 when he was promoted as an area commissioner for the Boksburg Management Area. He also manages the Heidelburg Correctional Services and community corrections.

Projects that are close to his heart include production workshops, which deal with wood machinery, upholstery, textile workshop, steel workshop and bakery.

Achievements

Under his leadership, he established a school called Tari Liswa (New Leaf) High School for Grade 10 to 12 juveniles, which was officially opened by the former Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Michael Masutha, in 2018.

He also introduced a computer centre, which was opened by Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, and two skills development centres at the Heidelberg and Boksburg correctional centres.

The correctional centre has also had clean audit reports for four years.

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