POLOKWANE – “Who am I not to be?”
This is the question that got Elvis Sepuru through the six years that he served in prison.
Convicted of rape and being confined to a prison cell made him re-evaluate his life decisions, he said.
Coming from a good home with religious parents who were well respected in the community, Elvis said he got mixed up with the wrong crowd and it led to the toughest period of his life.
“I was a great dancer and girls loved me. One day, I got into a fight because of a girl and I was beaten up. On that day, I decided that I would never again fall victim to such things. I had to man up and became aggressive as a protection mechanism to gain respect on the streets. Unfortunately, this paved the way to substance abuse and a life of crime which resulted in my arrest,” he said.
While serving his sentence, he realised that he had to change his life.
He upgraded his Gr 12 results and obtained an N4 certificate. He also took part in arts programmes, focusing on acting.
He told BONUS he chose to change his life because he saw how much pain he was putting his parents through.
“I wanted to show them that I am committed to changing my life for the better and make them proud,” he said.
Now 26 years old, Elvis was released in January and is adjusting to the freedom.
He shared that it hasn’t been easy being out as he had lost many years while serving his sentence.
He added that there’s also the stigma around former convicts and that he can sometimes feel the judgment when people learn that he was in prison.
“Life has humbled me and I have also learnt to humble myself. I have made mistakes which I have learnt from and have made it my life’s mission to help young people to avoid going down the path that I went,” he said.
He has founded a social club, an NGO called ‘Another Chance’ of which the motto is ‘Developing future leaders’.
Through this organisation, his programmes target young people particularly in schools giving them an escape in the arts.
There’s a book club, and basic training in acting as well as creative lessons for drawing, dancing, rap and singing.
“My vision is to see the success of youth, to prevent crime and to have programmes that will change idle minds,” he said.
He also plans to give motivational talks and offer anger management sessions.
Elvis has many programmes that he would like to implement and needs the extra hand in order to do so.
He can be reached at 063 705 9124 for anybody who would like to partner with him.
