Daily Sun (June 22 2015) - LWAZI spent three years behind bars.
Now he is a free man but life on the streets is hell.
I WOULD BE A HAPPY MAN IF I COULD JUST GO BACK TO JAIL, HE SAID.
“When I was released, I thought I would be happy, but my life is a mess!” Lwazi Nontyi (39) from central Joburg told Daily Sun.
“I want to go back to jail to finish my term.”
He was released in April, but as he roams the streets of Joburg, all he can think about is how he loved life in jail.
He was sentenced to 10 years for assault and served three years in Drakenstein Prison in the Western Cape.
He was released in April.
And to make things worse, his friend with whom he spent most of his time in jail comes to him in his dreams.
“The moment I close my eyes he comes and sits at my bedside. He asks me why I left him inside. He cries and pleads with me to get him out of jail. It hurts me to see him like this. I can’t find peace and I want officials to take me back to jail. I will help my friend to find freedom.”
He said they used to go to the same Bible studies.
“We had fun on Sundays when the jail treated us to some braai meat. I was his spiritual brother,” he said.
He said the two of them were sentenced by the same court and by the same judge but for different crimes.
Lwazi said he can’t find work.
“I was never hungry because we had food every day. When I get sick I can’t go to the clinic because they want money. All these things are free in prison.”
He said prison changed his life because now he is a devoted Christian.
“I used to drink a lot and spend my money on women,” he said.
Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga from the department of justice and correctional services said Lwazi needs professional help and counselling to adapt to the world outside prison.
He said the department cannot send people to prison if they have not committed a crime.
“He must focus on building his life outside prison and not think of going back to jail,” said Mhaga.
Lwazi said: “If officials won’t take me back to jail I will commit a crime and then they will have to take me back.”
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