'There's nothing stopping prisoners from studying, when it's for free'

The St Albans Correctional Facility, located just outside Port Elizabeth, was this week a hive of activity as it hosted a prison tournament in which inmates showcased their talents and competed in dancing, singing, chess, boxing as well as other indoor and outdoor games. At the tournament, 29-year-old Lunathi Nyamela, who was convicted of rape three years ago in East London, competed against 34-year-old.

The tournament saw prisoners at St Albans Prison square off against prisoners from the East London Medium C Correctional Centre, in East London, over a three-day period.

At the tournament, 29-year-old Lunathi Nyamela, who was convicted of rape three years ago in East London, competed against 34-year-old Tisetso Moyediago, who was convicted of murder in 2014 and is serving at St Albans Prison, in a finger board game.

Apparently, these indoor games are designed to keep prisoners busy every day and it was the first time for the two of them to compete in a tournament as they were only used to playing the game as a hobby.

According to Nyamela, all the prisoners that were recruited to compete from East London sleep in one room - all 48 in total, and they had come to Port Elizabeth hoping to walk away as champions.

Moyedi said that meeting prisoners from another facility had broaden his perspectives.

“This has been a very good experience to get a chance to compete with other prisoners from outside St Albans and we are hoping and wishing that the Department of Correctional Services will do more to facilitated such tournaments because they boost a person spiritually and emotionally.

“The East London inmates have been very humble and I think we owe them a re-match. Next year it will be us that will be visiting them in East London,” he said.

On the other hand, Nyamela described the experience as very challenging.

“For me, this has been a challenging experience because inmates are stubborn. They don’t easily listen to rules for example one would want to play dats, pool and boxing at the same time.

“We must be in the same place and be united instead of fighting, but we had a nice time because at the end of the day. Life is worth a challenge. What stands out for me is that throughout the stubbornness, we wanted the same goal and if tournaments like these would continue then the rate of gangsterism would decrease,” he described.

Nyamela further said that if they would be entertained, like they were, then there would be peace among prisoners serving their time and they would also forget about crime when they eventually go out to their communities.

He also added that prison is the place to get free education.

“Inside prison, rehabilitation is very important, so that we can absolutely understand our past mistakes and what got us here.

"Even those that didn’t have a chance to complete their studies, there’s nothing stopping them from completing their PhDs here because they have enough time and they don’t need money to do that," he said.

Nyamela added that he is the Chief Librarian at the East London Medium C Correctional Centre, which has been a very humbling experience for him.