Garden project for inmates
"Working in the garden gives us something to do. The skills we learn in gardening we can use when we get home, and that is what we enjoy most," the offenders said.
POLOKWANE – Female offenders at the Polokwane Correctional Centre are very proud and excited about their vegetable garden.
There is a variety of vegetables growing in the garden, which include onions, carrots, beetroot, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, green peas, and cabbage.
The centre’s nutrition, agriculture and environment senior manager, Nico Soer, said they planted 523 cabbage seeds and 4 000 onions. The offenders who work in the garden said they enjoy working in the garden and they have learned a lot about planting and growing vegetables. They also look forward to harvesting their crops.
“Working in the garden gives us something to do. The skills we learn in gardening we can use when we get home, and that is what we enjoy most,” the offenders said.
Kenneth Mthombeni, area commissioner for the department of correctional services, said the ultimate aim of the garden project is for the centre to be self sufficient with vegetables.
“We spend a lot of money on vegetables and by producing our own vegetables we will reduce this cost and divert the money to other rehabilitation programs. The garden project is cost effective and also provide skills to offenders,” Mthombeni said.
Dorothy Mokwena, head of the Polokwane Correctional Centre, said the initiative is good, because it gives offenders skills, which they can use once they are released.
“The offenders will not go to bed hungry, because they can plant vegetables at home and feed their families. They can also use this skill as an income, by growing and selling vegetables,” Mokwena said.
