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11 April 2018 Photo Charl Henning
Nicro approach UFS Drama for crime-prevention play
Dion and Charl with the school group during rehearsals at the Scaena Theatre on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.
Theatre is one of the many ways used by the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro) as medium to educate our youth. Nicro approached Prof Nico Luwes, Head of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS), to assist with a crime-prevention play project.  

Prof Luwes then knocked on the door of Drama lecturer, Dion van Niekerk, and master’s student Charl Henning.

Nicro is a non-profitable organisation with the purpose to create awareness among learners about different societal issues such as crime, substance abuse, etc. 

“They have this leadership programme within the organisation for youth who have not fallen into a life of crime. They are known as the ambassadors,” said Van Niekerk. 

 Play address societal issues 
“We did two plays; the text of the plays were existing text written by Prof Luwes. The text wasn’t about crime prevention, but rather about HIV and other societal issues; however, we improvised by making use of the children to guide us.”  

They are the ones who are confronted with these issues on a daily basis. “You see their leadership quality grow and how they can work together in a team. It was also a way to build their self-confidence in a fun way,” said Henning. Not only did it improve their self-confidence, but it also improved their interaction with learners from other schools. 

The play will be performed at schools in Bloemfontein.  The project is conducted at four local schools, namely Kopanong Secondary School, Moemedi Secondary School, Hodisa Technical School, and Louis Botha Technical High School.

News Archive

Researcher transforms despair into diamonds
2016-01-18

PhD candidate, Lerato Machetela and some members of the group Diamonds in the Rough having some fun between rehearsals.

Awash in hopelessness, substance abuse, violence, and sexual promiscuity. This is the lived reality of the youth in Jagersfontein. But now Lerato Machetela is using her research to change it.

As a PhD candidate in Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), Machetela assembled a group of 14 young men – ranging between the ages of 9 and 18 – who call themselves Jagersfontein’s Diamonds in the Rough. Combining elements from psychology, education, and entertainment, Machetela has established a platform that grounds these young ones adrift in circumstances. By means of song and dance, these young ones have become grounded through creativity.

While discussing what it means to be free in the new South Africa, Machetela asked the group to come up with a song similar to the struggle song, ‘Nelson Mandela usi litheli ixolo’.

Jagersfontein’s Diamonds in the Rough Researcher, Lerato Machetela, combines psychology, education, and entertainment to ground local youths through creativity.

The result: He’s a teenager, but he drinks Hansa.

“This then developed into a dance routine depicting what the youth is doing with their freedom,” Machetela says. With each beat of their boots and rhythmic clap of their hands, the group illustrates the ways in which the youth has constructed – and come to understand – their daily realities. “The routine includes the expression of alcohol and drug abuse, and ends of with the importance of education.”

Through the creative expressions of Diamonds in the Rough, Machetela is able not only to explore the reality of the youth in Jagersfontein, but also to investigate intergenerational trauma. “I am looking at whether there is a relationship between these young people’s current circumstances and the experiences of their parents’ generation during the apartheid years. That is, what sort of meanings do they construct as young, black South Africans growing up in the new South Africa?”

What started off as a research project is now rippling beyond academic spheres, though. The Free State Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation has taken note of this initiative. As a result, the group has already performed at the Bloem Show, International Museums Day, and Heritage Day celebrations, as well as at the Mangaung African Cultural Festival (MACUFE).  

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