Vodacom, together with the Readucate Trust, is turning prisons into institutions of learning.
Seven years ago many were concerned that cellphones would be an elitist technology offering little benefits for South Africa’s masses.
Vodacom Community Services responded by rolling-out thousands of subsidised telephones housed in shipping containers.
Today, hundreds of containers that once made their way across the seven seas are helping South Africans in some of the driest parts of the planet make their first telephone call ever.
When Vodacom wanted to get to grips with the root causes of crime in South Africa, the company decided to spend more than R500 000 on convicted criminals! Sounds crazy?
Well, the comments of some of these same convicted criminals following Vodacom’s intervention lead one to believe there is merit in this supposed madness: “It has inspired me psychologically”; “I’m sharing what I have received and what the Lord gave me with the whole nation”; “I consider myself fortunate to be part of this”; “It has rebuilt my personality”; “Now I will be able to … give back to the people”.
Even more touching than reading the comments above, is reading where pen was put to paper: Boksburg Juvenile Section, Baviaanspoort Medium B, Pretoria Central Medium, Leeukop Medium B, and the list goes on like a sad indictment of a rainbow nation gone wrong.
Mthobi Tyamzashe, chairperson of the Vodacom Foundation, says: “We’re turning prisons into institutions of learning and our rationale is that students are more likely to find pleasure in books than in guns, knives and the other tools of their former lives.”
Tyamzashe says the Vodacom Foundation has, through this initiative, formed a unique partnership with the Readucate Trust and the Department of Correctional Services.
Readucate’s mission is to upgrade literacy levels among South Africans with little or no schooling. The NGO does so by offering literacy courses to company employees, teachers and learners, prisoners and to just about anybody who is functionally illiterate.
Successful Readucate graduates eventually become licensed Readucators, allowing them to start their own Readucate centres where they can teach others via a multidimensional approach to reading in line with outcomes-based education.
Readucate has been so successful in its mission that it has even earned the respect of some of the top echelons of the government. Minister of Education Kader Asmal said in January: “My ministry acknowledges and respects Readucate’s commitment and dedication to raising the standards of reading and education in our schools and prisons.”
“Partnering with highly effective organisations that are making a real and significant difference is a central element of the Vodacom Foundation’s corporate social investment [CSI] strategy. We believe using each CSI rand in the most effective manner possible is more important than simply having a huge CSI budget,” says Tyamzashe.
The Vodacom Foundation’s association with Readucate began last year when it sponsored the organisation to the tune of R250 000. The donation covered the training of 60 literate juvenile inmates in 11 prisons, enabling them to teach other young offenders the basics of literacy.
At least 600 prisoners in Gauteng received basic literacy training as a result of this donation, with offenders welcoming the opportunity to become employable once released.
One such prisoner, who had served just more than a year of his 15-year sentence for robbery, said the Readucate course was a relief from the boredom of prison.
This person had gained his A-levels from a school in Swaziland and has since gained a number of accountancy diplomas. Another prisoner, a former gang leader, said he had “become addicted to teaching” since becoming a Readucate instructor.
“Becoming literate gives a person dignity and makes one more employable. In contributing to Readucate we believe we can make a meaningful contribution to reducing crime in society by giving offenders the skills they need to make a useful contribution to society once released.
“There is a Cuban saying to the effect that those who know must teach and those who don’t must learn,” says Tyamzashe.
It is estimated that there is a 54% illiteracy rate in prisons.
Importantly, released Readucators are able to earn an honest living through charging fees for their Readucate literacy courses.
The Vodacom Foundation was so impressed at the difference its initial R250 000 donation made to the lives of several hundred people, that the foundation recently approved a further grant to Readucate to the value of R265 000. The money will go towards the literacy training of an additional group of 60 inmates in prisons across Gauteng, who will then train other inmates.
“Readucate is deeply grateful for the continued support from the Vodacom Foundation, which has demonstrated a high sense of social responsibility,” says Edna Freinkel, founder and trustee of Readucate.
In making the latest donation to the trust, Tyamzashe said that, in line with the government’s priorities, safety and security remained one of the focus areas of the Vodacom Foundation.
“The Vodacom Foundation employs a multi-pronged approach in approaching South Africa’s challenges. Not only have we improved the country’s crime-fighting capacity by upgrading a police station and a magistrate’s court, but we have come to grips with the social problems behind crime by building schools and health facilities while sponsoring programmes like Readucate that deal with the rehabilitation of offenders.”
Tyamzashe concluded that Vodacom is a patron of Business against Crime (Gauteng); works daily with the South African Police Service to beat cellphone theft and fraud and remains steadfastly committed to the fight against crime in South Africa.