By Patience Gondo
Beitbridge Prison is in the process of rehabilitating its football pitch to meet standard playing requirements, in a project that is strengthening inmate rehabilitation while expanding access to sporting facilities for schools and community teams in the border town.
Beitbridge Officer In Charge Supritedent Onai Chimujakazi told Ziyah News Network, that the project which is still ongoing, is being implemented using locally available resources and inmate labour as part of skills development programmes.
“We rehabilitated the football pitch so that it meets the general standard required for a football pitch,” Chimujakazi said.
“It serves a greater part of Beitbridge schools, social clubs and teams in the lower leagues around the border area.”
The pitch has already gained recognition as an important sporting venue in the town. Underhill Football Club, which used the Beitbridge Prison ground, to qualify for the Premier League, highlighting the role the facility continues to play in nurturing local football talent.
As part of the rehabilitation works lawn is being transplanted from the Swant area opposite Beitbridge town, a move Chimujakazi said was guided by the need to utilise available local resources while improving the playing surface and overall ambience of the institution.
“By planting lawn, we are also improving the ambience of the pitch and the institution,” He said.
The project is being carried out under resource constraints, with prison authorities relying on materials that are readily accessible within the area.
Central to the initiative is the rehabilitation of inmates through practical training. Prisoners involved in the project are being taught basic landscaping principles and resource management skills that can be applied after their release.
“To the inmates, we are teaching them to take advantage of local resources,” Chimujakazi said. “These are landscaping principles they can use after life in prison.”
While the clearing of lawn in the Swant area has incidentally contributed to tidying up overgrown spaces, prison authorities emphasised that the core objective of the project remains sports development and inmate rehabilitation, with municipal responsibilities falling outside the prison’s mandate.
As Beitbridge continues to face limited sporting infrastructure, the prison led initiative stands out as a practical example of how correctional institutions can contribute positively to community development while equipping inmates with life skills.