South African inmates embrace art to curb repeat offending

When most people think of prison, they picture steel bars, locked gates and lost freedom.

But at a correctional facility in Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, visitors are greeted by something unexpected: an art gallery.

The exhibition of inmates’ artwork is part of the country’s effort to reduce repeat offending through rehabilitation programmes behind bars.

South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services has opened nine prison arts-and-crafts galleries since 2023, aiming to help inmates develop skills, earn income and prepare for life after release.

Inside Leeuwkop Correctional Facility, artwork created by 34 inmates is on display for visitors, offering a glimpse into stories of culture, memory and personal transformation in a country struggling with one of the world’s highest crime rates.

Inmates also have the chance to see each other’s work.

Freddy Mongkoai (51), one of the inmates, says he believes the artwork would help others “learn something about us prisoners”.

He has served nearly two years of a 12-year sentence for murder after taking part in an act described as ‘vigilante justice’.

Mongkoai joined the prison’s art programme in October.

Since then, he has experimented with painting and papier-mâché sculpture.

After his future release, Mongkoai wants to own a gallery and “employ other inmates” and ensure that they “don’t come back here”.

Unathi Mahlati, a senior programme officer at Just Detention International-South Africa, which has partnered with the correctional department on the programme since 2024, says inmates are encouraged to create their artwork but also to sit with their thoughts and feelings and observe their needs.

“Because it’s an environment that’s very rigid and very dogmatic, we give people a chance to just be,” she says.

Estimates of relapse rates in South Africa vary from source to source, depending on how repeat offending is defined, reaching as high as 95%.

South African prisons are notorious for high levels of violence due to overcrowding, gang activities, administrative failures and underfunding.

Correctional officials say repeat offenders contribute significantly to the overcrowding.

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