EC woman prison boss shares wisdom from her 40 years in front of bars
Through the years I have developed a passion to make a difference in the lives of others
Working in a prison is a job many would fear, but one of the Eastern Cape’s few women prison bosses started when she was 18 years old.
Noziphiwo Dumbela, now 58, is deputy commissioner of the Eastern Cape region and has been with the department for 40 years.
She shared her journey and some memorable experiences doing a job considered dangerous by some, as well as important.
“I joined the department on August 8 1981. After I passed matric I decided to look for work because my mother could not afford to send me to a tertiary institution as she was not earning much as a domestic worker. I was advised by a friend to apply to the department and I was among the luckiest candidates to be appointed by the prison services.
“My career, therefore, began at the female prison in East London. It was my first time to see women in prison.”
It came as a culture shock for Dumbela, who is from Willowvale, to witness these incarcerated women.
“I had never thought that women were also arrested.
“And it was a challenge being a black female prison warder during the apartheid regime.
“The working conditions during those years were unbearable. African prisoners were treated as terrorists. Gross violations of prisoners’ human rights were enforced by the government of the time.
“Black people were entirely regarded as lesser human beings and the treatment was as such.”
She said after six years as a security officer, she decided to take a bold move and wrote to the head of the prison requesting placement in a management orientation programme.
That is when her career began to grow.
“Through the years I developed a passion to make a difference in the lives of others.
“This includes the inmates I assisted on their rehabilitation path, the officials I mentored and developed as well as the community outreach projects that I worked on.”
Dumbela worked her way up the ranks by being promoted from warder to sergeant to warrant officer until her promotion as an assistant director of head personnel utilisation at the regional commissioner’s office.
“After that I was promoted to deputy director level as chairperson of the parole board at the Drakenstein management area.
In 2003 I was appointed as area commissioner for Breede River management area, a position I held for five years until my transfer to the Eastern Cape as area commissioner of Amathole management area.
“After almost ten years as a senior manager, in 2011 I was promoted to the position of deputy regional commissioner of the Eastern Cape region.”
Dumbela, the first black woman to be appointed as an area commissioner in Western Cape, was sent to the Worcester management area.
“This was confirmation that African women are capable, like all others.
“My first initiative was to propose the name change of the management area since it was not aligned with municipalities. After a consultation process the name change was approved from Worcester to Breede River management area.
“I also established community outreach projects within the province to improve the livelihood of the communities in the region, partnering with businesses and NGOS.
“My current project is a house the department recently built and handed over to a family in Willowvale.” Dumbela’s job is considered a high-pressure one due to what is involved in trying to rehabilitate and monitor some of the most dangerous people in society. She shared her pillar of strength in ensuring that she serves the department well.
“My motivation is the commitment to serve the nation and the department with diligence and service excellence through hard work and God ’ s grace. I am an advocate for women’s development and empowerment.
“I believe women can be anything they want to be as long as they put in the work.
“I am passionate about improving the lives of those less fortunate, a passion I am now using to promote corrections as a societal responsibility using offender labour.”
In 2017, she won an Intelligence Transfer Centre leadership development award for women in law enforcement in the mentorship category, which recognises a female law enforcer who supports and assists women in law enforcement, and develops programmes and policies favourable to advancing women.
“There is no life behind these gates,” she said. “Life in a correctional centre is not as glamorous as the television programmes portray it to be.
“Being an inmate leaves you with a stigma for life.
“As much as we try to promote the successful reintegration of ex-offenders, the reality is that it is not easy for the community to accept ex-inmates. Once you have a criminal record, that is a permanent black mark that cannot easily be erased. This affects your personal and professional life because it is not easy to find employment.
“In whatever you do, never allow your upbringing to determine your future. Use a poor upbringing as motivation to work hard in life.
“I am a daughter of a domestic worker but I decided to use this as an inspiration to change my life and strive for greatness.”