Prisoners meet their victims

19 September 2014 - 02:17 By Leonie Wagner
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Image: Gallo Images

"I forgive you."

These were the words Marc "Bizos" Roberts heard after he told a 16-year-old girl that he brutally murdered her father over a decade ago.

"She cried a lot but when she left she hugged me and softly whispered: 'I forgive you.' It restored my values and my dignity," said Roberts.

Roberts and five other prisoners will come face-to-face with their victims today as part of a restorative justice programme organised by the non-profit Khulisa Social Solutions, at Boksburg prison on the East Rand.

According to a Khulisa report, a prisoner who stabbed his father and is serving a 15-year prison sentence for murder, said it was "difficult to tell the truth" but "wonderful" when he did.

Stephanie Piek, a social worker at the prison, said: "Victims want the truth but they don't want it sugar-coated. It is about offender accountability and victim satisfaction."

Roberts said the guilt he experienced because of his crimes kept him awake in his cell for years before he found the courage to confront his actions.

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