The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
“AS I walked towards the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I would still be in prison.”
These words by South Africa’s first democratically elected black president, Nelson Mandela, talking about how he felt walking out of Polsmoor Prison after nearly three decades, are pregnant with meaning.
To him, freedom was in the mind and so was imprisonment — meaning one’s mindset can imprison or free an individual regardless of the physical barriers.
A recent visit by The Sunday Mail Society to Chikurubi Female Prison for a Valentine’s Day luncheon courtesy of Heart of a Woman Organisation, proved Mandela’s words to be true. While many people consider material assistance for inmates to be paramount, psychologically, inmates are tortured and need help. At the luncheon, there was a bustling ambience, inmates’ spirits seemed high as they danced, sung to music and ululated for those that produced exceptional dances.
They were treated to a truly hearty meal.
But as this writer engaged with some of the inmates during the quiet moments of the afternoon event, the injured souls behind the smiles emerged. Most of those that shared their stories are broken individuals in need of emotional and psychological support.
Although local prisons have professionals that take time to counsel the inmates, clearly more still needs to be done.
Nokuthula Sithole, a 23-year-old mother of three, who was jailed earlier this month and sentenced to three months for stealing a cellphone in Epworth, shared a heart-rending story.
With her behind bars are her two kids aged four and two while her eldest son, who is 10, has become a streetkid in Harare’s central business district.
Sithole, who grew up in and around Mbare Musika until November last year when she relocated to Epworth through the First Lady’s clean-up initiative, feels hopeless.
She is even prepared to give up her children for adoption.
“I am having sleepless nights; my son, who lives on the streets, needs medical attention, there is no one to help him. After serving my jail term, I also don’t have anywhere to go. My parents are both late, so I have no choice but to give up my children for adoption,” she said tearfully.
Sithole is a beneficiary of the First Lady’s benevolence but she squandered it.
“We were relocated to Epworth by the First Lady. She pays our rentals. On the day that we were moved, my eldest son was away so we left him behind. He went to live on the streets in town.
“Later, I heard that he had been sexually abused (sodomised) by an older man. So I looked for him and I broke down when I finally saw him; he was very pale and sick,” she sobbed.
Trying in vain to seek medical attention for him, Sithole became desperate and claims that is the reason she stole a cellphone which landed her in jail.
Her intention was to sell it to get her child treated. But she was arrested before completing the illegal transaction, and since that day, she has not seen her son. Now in her third marriage, Sithole said her “husband” had never visited her.
Another prisoner, Oripah Gaba, mother of a three-year-old boy, was also jailed earlier this month to serve two years for illegal gold panning in Shamva. She is just 17.
As of last week, she was the youngest inmate at the female prison. Gaba dropped out of school during her Form Two after falling pregnant. After she gave birth, she took to gold panning to provide for her child and aged mother.
“My parents separated when I was young, my father is mentally ill, so I went to live with my mother attending Chavakadzi Primary and Secondary schools.
“While in Form Two, I fell pregnant to a man who conspired with his elder sister to forcefully bed me. I was very young, he took advantage and forced me against my will,” she sobbed.
Her son still has no birth certificate and her wish is to go back to school. Gaba feels her life is shattered. Being the breadwinner, she is worried about her old mother and her son, who have no one to fend for.
At the same prison, 29-year-old Moreblessing Nyamtata claims her husband of 11 years, Thulani Ndlovu, tricked her into robbery. The couple were sentenced to eight years with hard labour.
Nyamtata is currently housed at the female prison while Ndlovu is at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. They are sometimes allowed to visit each other. According to the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, an inmate can apply to visit their partner at the female prison and if granted permission, they are accompanied by the officers.
Besides the pain of being deceived by her own husband, Nyamtata’s heart aches for her minor children. Aged 10 and eight, their kids had to be transferred from Waterfalls to Mt Darwin where they now live with their maternal grandmother.
“Everyone keeps telling me that time heals but they do not tell me what I should do for now. I cannot sleep, I cannot eat sometimes, I still see visions of what happened that day,” she said.
Almost every imprisoned person claims innocence or tries to justify breaking the law. Whatever the case, the tales told by inmates — both male and female — show that there is a need for countinuous counselling and psychological support for incarcerated individuals.
