On April 22 Zach Modise will swap correcting for crocheting.
The National Commissioner of Correctional Services on Monday announced a Guinness world record attempt to make the “largest blanket” at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Paarl “where Mandela took his first steps to freedom on 11 February 1990”.
The 15000-square metre blanket will involve other centres‚ “including those incarcerating maximum security offenders”.
“We take pride in this programme as it presents an opportunity where inmates across the country are giving back to society‚” said Modise.
“Key to rehabilitation is empowering offenders with skills to function effectively in society upon their release.
“It is therefore encouraging to see more male offenders taking part in crocheting‚ an activity that has always been labelled to be feminine‚ yet it fosters discipline‚ patience and boosts self-esteem.”
This was echoed by 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day founder Carolyn Steyn: “The fact that thousands of men and women serving sentences in South African correctional centres will be largely responsible for keeping thousands upon thousands of people in impoverished communities warmer over all the winters to come‚ in the name of the greatest prisoner of them all‚ is not only momentous‚ it is also indicative of a healing nation.”
The message of the campaign is “Knitting Broken Lives and our Nation Together”.
Guinness World Records adjudicators will be “in attendance to witness and confirm the record-setting initiative”.
Inmates to crochet for Madiba
The National Commissioner of Correctional Services on Monday announced a Guinness world record attempt to make the “largest blanket” at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Paarl “where Mandela took his first steps to freedom on 11 February 1990”.
The 15000-square metre blanket will involve other centres‚ “including those incarcerating maximum security offenders”.
“We take pride in this programme as it presents an opportunity where inmates across the country are giving back to society‚” said Modise.
“Key to rehabilitation is empowering offenders with skills to function effectively in society upon their release.
“It is therefore encouraging to see more male offenders taking part in crocheting‚ an activity that has always been labelled to be feminine‚ yet it fosters discipline‚ patience and boosts self-esteem.”
This was echoed by 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day founder Carolyn Steyn: “The fact that thousands of men and women serving sentences in South African correctional centres will be largely responsible for keeping thousands upon thousands of people in impoverished communities warmer over all the winters to come‚ in the name of the greatest prisoner of them all‚ is not only momentous‚ it is also indicative of a healing nation.”
The message of the campaign is “Knitting Broken Lives and our Nation Together”.
Guinness World Records adjudicators will be “in attendance to witness and confirm the record-setting initiative”.
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