Faith Nyasuguta
President Cyril Ramaphosa has inaugurated the Nelson Mandela Rules Training Academy at the Drakenstein Correctional Facility, commemorating 36 years since Nelson Mandela walked free from the same prison that once held him. The academy – the first in Africa devoted entirely to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, widely known as the Mandela Rules -was officially opened on 11 February 2026 in Paarl, Western Cape.
Ramaphosa described the launch as a defining moment for South Africa’s justice and corrections system, reaffirming the country’s commitment to rehabilitative justice and humane treatment behind bars. The training facility is designed to strengthen the understanding and implementation of international prisoner-rights standards, promote dignity, fairness, and respect for human rights in correctional settings, and honor Mandela’s enduring legacy of justice.
The Drakenstein Correctional Facility, formerly Victor Verster Prison, holds deep historical significance as the site where Mandela spent the final years of his 27-year incarceration before his release on 11 February 1990 – an event that helped catalyze the end of apartheid and usher in majority rule. Ramaphosa’s address noted the symbolic importance of launching the academy at this site on the anniversary of Mandela’s liberation.
The new academy will serve as a centre for training, research and knowledge exchange for correctional officials, both within South Africa and across the broader Southern African region. In partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), it aims to embed the Mandela Rules into everyday correctional practice. These rules, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, codify 122 standards that protect the dignity and rights of people deprived of liberty and emphasize humane conditions, rehabilitation, education and vocational training for inmates.
Officials say the academy will also expand professional development opportunities for correctional services staff and encourage innovation in approaches to incarceration that balance security with respect for human rights. Jane Marie Ong’olo, Regional Representative of the UNODC, highlighted Mandela’s lifelong advocacy for fairness and humane treatment as the moral foundation behind the training institute’s mission.
Beyond classroom instruction, the academy will support broader efforts to break cycles of re-offending by equipping inmates with skills and knowledge to facilitate successful reintegration into society upon release. The centre’s programs will include rehabilitation initiatives, educational offerings, and personal-development support, in line with international best practices.
Ramaphosa framed the academy as part of a national push to transform South Africa’s correctional landscape, emphasizing that upholding human dignity within prisons contributes not just to justice but also to social stability. He stressed that correctional officials have a critical role in rehabilitation and reducing crime, and that their work must be guided by values that reflect both Mandela’s legacy and global human-rights standards.
The opening of the Nelson Mandela Rules Training Academy thus represents both a tribute to South Africa’s past and a tangible commitment to a more humane, transparent and rights-based correctional system for the future.
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