Doreen Mokgolo
Defying the law cost Lloyd Dladla seven years in prison and the loss of a leg, and now he is on a crusade to convince today’s youth to avoid the mistakes he made.
“I wish there was someone who cared enough to caution me about my ways,” said ex-convict Lloyd Dladla, who has devoted his life to rescuing troubled youngsters in his community of Kwa-Thema, east of Ekurhuleni.
Lloyd said he turned to crime as a teenager to escape a life of poverty.
“I had wrong role models,” he said.
“I thought this was the only way to gain respect and power and to get some money, but now I know better through the skills and counselling I received in prison.”
Lloyd was once a well-known and feared character within his community. During his arrest in 2012 in Daveyton, he was shot by police at his hiding spot and lost the function of his leg. He was sentenced on charges of carjacking, robbery, house breaking and car theft in 2014.
He was one of the 19,000 low-risk prisoners who were released to curb the spread of Covid-19 in prisons in January after serving seven years of his 20-year sentence.
Every morning he limps to street corners and public parks frequented by drug addicts and rebellious youngsters to share his troubled teenage lifestyle that led to crime and dropping out of school.
He said that it is difficult to integrate back into society.
“But that will not deter me from helping youngsters from committing the same mistakes I made,” he said.
He said losing his leg was a blessing in disguise.
“I doubt had I not lost the function of my leg I would have changed my ways,” he said.
He has used his disability grant to start a small business selling perfumes and handbags.
