Local NGO, The Message Trust SA, is giving former prisoners a new lease on life at Gangstar Cafe in Mowbray. Here, they are trained as baristas, effectively going from committing crime to brewing coffee.

It’s the first coffee shop in the country that solely employs ex-convicts. Xola Dingiswayo (32) is one of them. He grew up in Samora Machel in a single-parent household, where he quickly became involved with criminal activity.

“When I was 17/18-years-old, I started smoking dagga, and then moved to mandrax, tik and abused alcohol.”

He formed his own gang, and proceeded to rob and break into homes. Community members attempted to kill him, but decided to assault him instead. He was eventually reported to police and arrested. In 2012, he was sentenced to 3 years behind bars for being in possession of an illegal firearm and theft.

While spending time in Pollsmoor and Drakenstein Correctional Centres, he became affiliated with The Message Trust SA, and decided to change his life. Upon his release in 2014, he worked with the NGO to launch their first Gangstar Cafe.

He was released in 2014 and began working at Gangstar Cafe the following year. He insists that there is life after prison, and that every day is a new opportunity to start building a brighter future. pic.twitter.com/IWfl3AoGqL

— Smile90.4 FM (@Smile904FM) November 28, 2022

Today, there are three such coffee shops: Mowbray, N1 City and Goodwood. Over the past 7 years, the café has seen dozens of previous inmates being trained and finding their feet back into society.

Ingrid Kalie-Moses, who works as the NGO’s prison and enterprise manager says everyone is worthy of a second shot in life.

“If you can find you way to our head office in Mowbray, we can work with you to understand where you are at, what is the support system around you currently, what do you need, what is your skills set, how can we help leverage that with you and link you to opportunities. That’s really what Gangstar is about.”

Dingiswayo is now in the process of studying Business Management and has not ruled out the idea of owning his own coffee shop one day. He has encouraged former and existing inmates not to give up.

“Life is not over. It all depends on the choices you make. If you decide to change today, it will lead you to the right future.”