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Minister Sibusiso Ndebele hosts dialogue between survivors, victims and offender of 1996 Worcester bomb

12th September 2013

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As part of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Victim-Offender Dialogue (VOD) programme, Minister Sibusiso Ndebele will host a dialogue between the survivors, victims and offender of the 1996 Christmas Eve Worcester bomb attack on Monday, 16 September 2013.

Sixty victims, and survivors, of the bombing, in which four people died and over 70 were injured, will meet Stephanus Coetzee (the youngest Worcester bomber), as part of a reconciliation, and healing, process. This process is a joint initiative between DCS, Worcester Hope and Reconciliation Process and Khulumani Support Group. It is aimed at strengthening restorative justice, as well as the social reintegration of offenders back into their communities.

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Media are invited to cover the event.

Details are as follows:

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Date: Monday, 16 September 2013
Time: 09h00
Venue: Pietman Hugo Hall, Worcester, Western Cape.

We wish to request media attending to please confirm attendance by sending their full names, ID or passport numbers, media house, mobile number and email address to Simphiwe Xako at Simphiwe.Xako@dcs.gov.za or 079 501 0272 / 021 550 6018. 

On 30 January 2013, Minister Ndebele met 67 victims who arrived by train in Pretoria, from Worcester, to meet Stefaans Coetzee at the Pretoria Central Correctional Centre on 31 January 2013.

Through the VOD programme, DCS is embarking on a renewed focus to bring victims of crime, offenders and communities together so that relationships can be restored and forgiveness sought.

The main thrust of the programme is to keep as many people as possible away from imprisonment through reconstruction of family units, and community systems, as well as victim support and empowerment, while pursuing the rehabilitation of those already incarcerated through well-managed rehabilitation programmes.

Minister Ndebele said the victim must be at the centre of corrections. “The objective of the Victim-Offender Dialogues is to put the victim back at the centre of the corrections system, as the victim is directly, and personally, affected by the criminal act of the offender. Equally, the offender must be given an opportunity to reflect on his or her wrongs and request forgiveness.

We want to create opportunities where various stakeholders defined as victims of crime, those affected personally, their families, communities, community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, religious and spiritual bodies, educators, councillors and local leaders, will assemble together with offenders with a single purpose to rebuild our communities ravaged by crime.

We want to reinforce corrections programmes through music, reading for redemption, creative literature, the arts, cultural events, heritage renewal events, sporting events, formal education and acquisition of skills, economic renewal through cooperatives and enterprise development, spiritual growth and self-correcting interventions, among others. The trilogy of victim, offender and community must play a leading role in the implementation of the Victim-Offender Dialogues as corrections is a societal responsibility,” said the Minister.

Enquiries:           
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 644 4050

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