BY FORTUNE MOYO
TWO years ago, Sibusiso Dube got into an altercation that could have radically altered the course of his life.
He was 18 years old at the time when he and a friend argued about the outcome of a bet. They decided to settle the matter with their fists.
“In my neighbourhood, settling scores by engaging in street fights was just a way of growing up among teenagers,” Dube said. “Half the time, they were not serious fights, and people often made peace afterwards.”
Dube won the fight and believed that would be the end of the matter. But his friend, Mandla Nkomo, reported the incident to his brother, who called the police.
Later that day, officers arrived at Dube’s home and arrested him for assault. He spent the night in jail, facing the prospect of a trial and possibly a prison sentence. A criminal record would bar him from government employment and make it exceedingly difficult for him to obtain work in the private sector.
“I was stunned and confused,” Dube said. “Why was I being arrested for something which always happened in the neighbourhood?”
But the next morning, Dube was released into his mother’s custody and given a reprieve: A social worker informed him that his case wouldn’t be going to court after all. Instead, he was to participate in a new pretrial diversion programme designed for young people like him.
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Rather than serving time in prison, he would be offered counselling and vocational training, and he would need to participate in mediation sessions with Nkomo and offer the family some form of reparation. If he completed the programme successfully, he would not have the stigma associated with a criminal record.
The pre-trial diversion programme could soon benefit more youths like Dube. The programme — which started in 2016 as a pilot project between the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs ministry and the United Nations Children’s Fund, — is currently running in four cities. The government plans to expand it nationwide.
The programme is designed for young adults under the age of 21 who have committed less-serious offences, such as theft, assault and unlawful entry, which ordinarily would carry prison sentences of 12 months or less.
The government launched the programme after realising that incarceration wasn’t an effective pathway to rehabilitation for juvenile offenders,” Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said.
“Imprisoning young people with hardened criminals, the government found, often led to young people becoming hardened criminals themselves,” he said.
Inmates in Zimbabwe’s prison system have long suffered human rights abuses. Juveniles, especially, have suffered from lack of legal representation. But in recent years, the country has worked to improve conditions within prisons, putting more emphasis on rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The pre-trial diversion programme is part of that effort. Since it began, about 4 000 young people have completed it.
“The programme has achieved its goals, because it is meant to ensure that juveniles are not exposed to hard-core criminals over minor offences,” Ziyambi said.
It now operates in four cities: Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Kadoma. The government could start expanding the programme by the end of the year. Such programmes are fairly rare in the region, although South Africa has one with similar objectives.
“We plan to ensure that the programme is rolled out to all districts in the country so that all juveniles have access to the programme and juvenile justice is uniform across the country,” Ziyambi said.
“The programme has achieved its goals, because it is meant to ensure that juveniles are not exposed to hard-core criminals over minor offences.”
Diverting juveniles from the formal criminal justice system also helps to reduce pressure on the country’s overcrowded prisons, Ziyambi added.
He said the capacity of the country’s prison system was 17 000. As of March, more than 20 000 prisoners were incarcerated.
Social reintegration also is a key goal of the programme.
“The pre-trial diversion option is in no way intended to make offenders less accountable or responsible for their actions, but rather to provide offenders with the opportunity to rethink their lives,” said Gerald Matiba, executive director of the Christian Legal Society of Zimbabwe, which offers free legal advice, counselling and psychosocial support to juveniles involved in the diversion programme.
Once a young adult has a criminal record, society tends to shun and stigmatise them, Matiba said.
“By forcing juvenile offenders to take responsibility for their actions — while also addressing social, family or community issues that may be contributing to their behaviour — the diversion programme makes it easier for young people to be accepted back into communities and avoid further run-ins with the law.
“Young people who exhibit delinquent or criminal behaviour often have experienced peer pressure, lack of parental guidance or supervision, abuse, neglect or alcohol and substance abuse,” Matiba said.
He said addressing these issues could take time, and there was no specific timeline for completing the diversion programme. Matiba said some offenders completed the programme in three to six weeks, while others could remain in the programme for months.
Dube said after going through the programme, he understood that what he did was wrong, hence he had to apologise to his friend and his family.
He also had to do gardening at his friend’s place for about a month to show remorse for his deeds.
Looking back, Nkomo said he didn’t intend for his friend to be arrested, but he was glad the diversion programme allowed young people to avoid letting silly behaviour during their youth ruin the rest of their lives.
Dube was able to receive vocational training, and he now works as a mechanic. He said if he had been incarcerated, his family and community would not have supported him as they did after he had completed the diversion programme.
“Once one has a criminal record, family members and society stigmatise you,” Dube said. “So I believe because I did not get a criminal record, it was easier to reintegrate into society.”
Fortune Moyo is a Global Press Journal reporter, and specialises in stories about the impact of the country’s fragile economy on education.
