28 Westville prison inmates sit for 2026 matric exams
Twenty-eight inmates at Westville Correctional Services in Durban are among 268 prisoners across the country sitting for their 2026 National Senior Certificate examinations.
KwaZulu-Natal has a total of 50 inmates writing their matric examinations this year.
On Thursday morning, National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Makgothi Thobakgale, visited uSethubeni Youth School at the Durban Correctional Facility to monitor the start of the examinations.
The facility has maintained a remarkable record of achieving a 100% pass rate for 10 consecutive years .
Thobakgale has encouraged inmate learners to look beyond their current circumstances and use education as a stepping stone towards a better future.
The inmates sitting for their matric examinations express a renewed sense of hope, declaring themselves firmly on the right path to change their lives and fulfil their dreams.
Twenty-three-year-old Bandile Ndlela is serving a 10-year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances and is expecting to be released in 2028.
He’s among the top learners and expects to pass with eight distinctions.
Ndlela says he has applied to university to further his studies to become a Mathematics teacher.
National Commissioner Motivates Inmate Learners as 2026 Matric Examinations Begin The National Commissioner of DCS, Mr Makgothi Thobakgale, visited Usethubeni Youth School at Durban Correctional Facility today (15 October 2026)… https://t.co/MLhVMNHrtH https://t.co/7fpt536VVV — The Department Correctional Services (@DCS_ZA) October 15, 2026 “We are very ready, and we have been planning the whole time, and the teachers have done everything to give us the material we need, and it is up to us to focus, not be nervous and keep on pushing.
Through the programme they have offered us as the Department of Correctional Services, they have rehabilitated us, and they gave us an opportunity to come back to school and explore our potential.
My dream is to become a teacher, and I have applied at the University of South Africa (UNISA) to do Maths and English,” says Ndlela.
Another inmate, Lethukuthula Ngwenya, is serving a life sentence for murder and has already served three years.
Ngwenya says he considers this opportunity to improve his education as a second chance at life.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.sabcnews.com — the content belongs to SABC News South Africa.
