Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Prison Journalism: Reflections on past and present

23/02/2024

Prison Journalism: Reflections on past and presentThabo Mthembu was incarcerated in Pollsmoor Prison from 2014 to 2019. Read Thabo's story

by Thabo Mthembu

23-02-2024 08:23

in Prison Journalism

Prison yard

Image via Unsplash

From birth, we have no control over what kind of life we are born into or what life lessons we experience. We have more control over the kind of people we will meet. I believe the only way to overcome this is to take introspection of oneself when it comes to actions and reactions on oneself.

--

When I look at the environment, I have found myself in, both inside my prison and out, I find myself asking the question: what is the difference between inside and outside?

Prisoners inside have jobs, and even though being inside is no joke-it is life or death with lots of plotting and screaming-just as it is outside. Everything is more likely to get you set up or killed, both outside and inside of a prison cell.

False people are most likely found outside, as the world carries more prejudices and fear around with them now more than ever, with the increase of unemployment, homelessness, and poverty affecting all the different racial and social groups. In such a way that crimes of violence now seem to become a norm.

--

Elections ahead Elections become a strong cycle filled with baseless hype, with only the upper class of our nation benefiting mostly! With the poor, young, and old in most social settings being forced to step above the normal conventional method by employing the underground skills to provide for themselves and their families. It has become a norm to live the way ghettos are increasing, and new ghettos are being built further away from positive environments as the state fears crime seeping over and urban zones being overrun by crimes such as break-ins and drug dealing. Now the state sits with that very real problem, actually being made a reality that seems not to be changing soon.

Bad things about this period Sad things about the times of today is that everyone is governed by fear, and those who have financial stability behave and treat the less fortunate as if they are nothing but scum of the earth. The big question is, are we going forward or backward as a nation? More prisons are built instead of looking at the real problem and finding a solution to the current state we find ourselves in.

The current mindset is everyone for themselves. If you ask yourself how much one needs to serve or provide for one's family and how many earn below the minimum wage, you will be able to see why crime is on the increase.

--

The youth and young adults don't know anything better than the belief that crime pays, and there are not enough role models out there encouraging a positive lifestyle. There are even those who haven't left the ghettos or even know there is a better way of life than living a life of crime and drugs.

Hope! I believe the only way for there to be a change is through inner growth and a change of environment. We need all of us as a nation to come together and educate each other about our lives, and maybe things may change.

To understand each other is to have a greater ability for growth, even though we all may be having our own individual problems.

DISCLAIMER: Submission published as received

Should you wish to assist in the rehabilitation of former inmates and help put money into the pockets of those who have struggled to earn a living during and after incarceration, click HERE

RESTORE is an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa, providing inmates at Pollsmoor Prison with restorative justice opportunities.

If you have any questions you would like to ask our prison journalists, WhatsApp us on 060 011 0211.

Do you have contact with a prison inmate who would like to write for The South African website? If so, send an email to info@thesouthafrican.com or a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.

You can also follow @TheSAnews on Twitter and The South African on Facebook to get the latest prison journalism articles.

Support Women in Journalism in 2024 - Support us to fund independent women journalism
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/prison-journalism/prison-journ...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

30/09/2026

Clear-Com's Arcadia Central Station Brings Professional Production Communications to...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

30/09/2026

AWARN Alliance Urges FCC to Let Broadcasters Tap Full 3.0 Capabilities

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Senator Asks If All-GOP FCC Would Violate Federal Law

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Marshall PTZ Cameras Bring Legendary Progressive Rock Exp...

The An Evening with Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour brings one of rock's most iconic bands back to the stage. These performances seamlessly blend live foota...

30/09/2026

Schibsted Media Chooses DHD RX2 and TX2 Mixers for Remote...

Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...

30/09/2026

Big Blue Marble adds live multiview channels to its video...

Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...

30/09/2026

Telekom Slovenije brings local advertising to internation...

Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...

30/09/2026

PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow

PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow Brie Clayton September 29, 2026 0 Comments Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...

30/09/2026

IBC2026 Show Report

IBC2026 Show Report David Kirk September 29, 2026 0 Comments The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...

30/09/2026

SGO Unveils Workflows Slate To Enable Automated Burn-ins, Slates

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Public Advocacy Group Urges Broadcasters to Stop Airing Trump Taxpayer Funded Ad

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Qvest Promotes Katlyn Alexander to CEO, North America

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Mavis Camera 8-2 adds iPhone 18 Pro Support with Variable...

Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...

30/09/2026

Harmonic Launches Recon Product Family Developed in Partnership with Comcast

New Solution Expands Harmonic's Network Intelligence Portfolio and Brings Comcast-Developed Fiber Monitoring Technology to Broadband Operators, Providing Re...

30/09/2026

A Look Back at (My) 524 Months with Broadcast Cameras

Thank you to Film-TV Video for the original article - you can view it here It was early 1983. I had just turned 21 when I joined Hitachi Denshi's European...

30/09/2026

Claire Brock and Sophie Morris discover how consumers can shop smarter in new RT documentary series

How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player On the...

30/09/2026

From Training to Production, NVIDIA and CoreWeave Close the Loop on Agentic AI

Building on nearly a decade of co-engineering, CoreWeave has built NVIDIA compute, networking and software into a cloud purpose-built for AI that's still re...

29/09/2026

Oak View Group Names Cisco as Official Technology Partner

Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...

29/09/2026

SportsNet Pittsburgh Wins Three Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards

SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...

29/09/2026

CBC, PWHL Revive Hockey Night in Canada' on Saturdays

The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...

29/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Recognized as MXL Contributor Following IBC Innovation Award

Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...

29/09/2026

Fubo Launches My Local Sports RSN Add-On Package

FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...

29/09/2026

ANI Deploys Grass Valley AMPP and Framelight X for News Operations

Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...

29/09/2026

SABC Deploys Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras for IP-Based Production

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...

29/09/2026

Busy in Bristol: ESPN Headquarters Come Alive With New Studio W, Remote-Production Workflows

REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...

29/09/2026

NASCAR Productions' Keith D'Alessandro on the Continued Evolution of Its Centralized Production Hub

Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...

29/09/2026

NBC Sports Brings Robust Sunday Night Baseball Production Playbook to MLB Wild Card Round

NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...

29/09/2026

Sundance Institute Announces 2026 Doc Fund Grantees

19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary LOS ...

29/09/2026

Zynaptiq introduce Loud & Wide

Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...

29/09/2026

Wes Audio unveil the ngOmniBox

All-in-one bus processor revealed Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...

29/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Drastically Upgrades Production Communications with...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

29/09/2026

Fubo TV Launches My Local Sports'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

ARRI Targets Content Creators with New HONOR Smartphone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Asian News International Enhances Workflow with Grass Valley AMPP, FramelightX

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

SABC Chooses Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras to Support IP Studio Transition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

SABC Upgrades to IP-Based Production with Ikegami UHK-X60...

Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...

29/09/2026

Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone

Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone Brie Clayton September 29, 2026 0 Comments Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...

29/09/2026

Ease Live Reports over 75 Million Interactive Sessions Du...

Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...

29/09/2026

Ease Live to monetise key moments in live sports

Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...

29/09/2026

Rise AV launches awards celebrating the women advocates a...

Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...

29/09/2026

Netflix Deploys Advanced Sony PTZ Cameras For Wonka's The Golden Ticket' Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Names Gene Lavanchy 2026 Broadcaster of the Year

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

ESPN Reports Its Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Scripps Taps Digital News Veteran Sean McGarvy to Lead News Strategy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Gray Raises Political Ad Revenue Estimates

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Edward Czarnecki Uses Game Theory to Assess ATSC 3.0 Transition Policies

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...