When Arcadia resident Elton Minto found himself on the wrong side of the law after committing a crime 19 years ago, he knew a prison sentence would destroy his future.
And when he was given the opportunity to be part of the SA National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro) diversion programme, he grabbed it with both hands.
The 39-year-old picker at Digistix was a top pupil and head boy at West End Primary and Arcadia High School and was awarded a bursary for tertiary education when he was in matric.
Taking his brother’s company vehicle and wrecking it in a drunken rage and being criminally charged for it landed him in court and brought him into contact with Nicro when he was 20.
Founded in September 1910, Nicro was the first organisation in SA to offer services to prisoners and their families.
Minto said he had given up his dreams to further his education because his girlfriend had fallen pregnant.
“It was as though my life was falling apart,” he said.
“In 2002, I was using Mandrax and alcohol to cope after I made a girl pregnant.
“I decided to raise my son, Aldrin [Japhta], from when he was six months old. He is 20 now.
“I struggled to see how things could get better for me.
“After a night of drinking at a tavern, I took the keys to my brother’s work vehicle without consent and drove it into a wall to mow down my ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend.
“Things took a turn for the worse when my brother and the company he worked for laid charges of vehicle theft against me.
“I feared prison.
“Having grown up in a gang-ridden, violent area, in Arcadia, in Bethelsdorp, Gqeberha, I always heard people say ‘tronk is nie jou ma se huis nie’ [jail is not your mother’s house].
“I knew that if you went to prison, you would be sodomised,” he said.
At the Gelvandale Magistrate’s Court, Minto was referred to Nicro for diversion, instead of being sentenced to incarceration.
Diversion is directing a person accused of committing a crime away from formal court procedures towards a more constructive and positive solution.
The aim is to give offenders accused of less serious, non-violent crimes a second chance to address the root causes of the criminal behaviour through an appropriate diversion programme or intervention.
Nicro chief executive Betzi Pierce said the programme gave the court more options to address the needs of offenders, to change their behaviour and reduce the risk of them reoffending.
“Diversion will not be considered if the interests of the criminal justice system, and society, are better served by prosecution and conviction,” Pierce said
Minto proudly said Nicro had saved his life.
“We worked through what caused me to make those bad choices,” he said.
“We also had group sessions where our socioeconomic problems were discussed.”
After attending the diversion with Nicro for six months, he had to appear in court, where all charges were withdrawn.
As a result, he has no criminal record.
Minto said he was saddened by the lack of vision and skills among young people in the community.
“I feel that first-time offenders need guidance and this type of intervention.
“I do not know what would have happened to me or my family if I had gone to prison.
“I want to be a volunteer for the organisation to help make a change in the lives of youngsters in my community,” he said.
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