PAUL LEONHARD BRUNS

28 March 1947 – 22 January 2022

INTRODUCTION: “The Insight of Paul Bruns, To Remind Us”

• By Paul Pereira, WHAM Media

This is a Note to Self of mine written a few days after the unexpected death of Paul Bruns. He is the father of former Tshikululian colleague Claire (Bruns) Hugo; founded and ran an in-prison project of rehabilitation; and is a man I admire, was privilagd to learn from, and whose frindship was involved, thoughtful, and constant (he last touched base with me on 13 January).

As I wrote to former Tshikululu CEO Margie Keeton, Paul was “an intensely grounded, good bloke”. You could sum him up in that wonderful Yiddish salute, viz that Paul Bruns was truly a “mensch”.

The apple that fell from this tree did not come to rest far away at all, for Claire (again my words to Keeton) “is one of the few who ‘gets’ the core truths of endeavours such as social investment – and indeed of anything dealing with humanity – as being a thing of curiosity and constant learning, rather than formulae and ‘thought leadership’”.

This document is not a tribute to Paul Bruns as it falls far short of the nuanced complexity such a salute would require, and worthy that would be. Rather, it is far more selfish – a collation that reminds me, quickly, that a core of restorative social investment, perhaps especially in South Africa, is often best found in our focussing on human dignity, mutual respect, and love.

That the Sermon on the Mount is our best Theory of Change.

• PGP, February 2022, Johannesburg

PICTURE: Mrs Claire Hugo (née Bruns):

2. THEN SUDDENLY, THE “A-HA” MOMENT

• By Paul Bruns, Founder: Hlumelelisa

“I approached Leeuwkop Prison on the outskirts of Johannesburg to request a partnership with them to use their facilities to establish a tree nursery, the produce of which would be donated to and be the forerunner of the greening of townships surrounding Johannesburg.  

“On my way to my first meeting, I happened upon a group of incarcerated individuals sweeping up leaves in the early morning. A gentle breeze made this task almost impossible, as they would sweep an area clean and return to sweep the same area, which had been covered by the same leaves, again.

“The futility and hopelessness of the exercise was evident on the sweepers’ faces. Taken further, the situation they found themselves in also seemed hopeless and futile.

“The evidence was clear and uncomplicated, and I realised that what I wanted to do was not about growing trees – it was about growing people.

“And so, the journey began.”

(TAKEN FROM: Paul Bruns, Good Practice Model Implementation Guide -chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hlumelelisa.org%2F_files%2Fugd%2Fb8d0a9_967dc9b7c7fc444a8311004bdca3179a.pdf&clen=8978595&chunk=true, Hlumelelisa, Johannesburg, unknown publication date.)

 3. E-TV’s “SOUTH AFRICAN HEROES – PAUL BRUNS”

3. WATCH: YouTube 

   https://youtube.com/watch?v=64Hsh8tnGMk%3Ffeature%3Doembed

#Hlumelelisa  was established in 2003 in order to mitigate the ever growing crime rate and urban decay in South Africa . Originally, the only aim was to “green” the City by growing trees in correctional facilities to be planted in the townships, but “growing people” and restoring dignity and hope soon became the first priority, and training in horticulture was chosen as the ideal vehicle to bring about this renewal.

The first training site was established at the Leeuwkop Correctional Centre, with a group of 15 students participating in a three-month, informal life skills training course. It soon became apparent that a more formal, comprehensive intervention was required to achieve the personal transformation that was the primary aim of the programme.

In 2006, the full 10-month training programme in horticulture was introduced, incorporating AgriSETA-accredited modules. Over time, services were extended to other at-risk groups, particularly unemployed youth and people with disabilities, and training in life skills and entrepreneurial skills development was incorporated. To date, more than 900 students have graduated from our programme.

Almost all our facilitators are graduates of the Programme. We continue to identify those who excel with a view to taking them on as trainees, continuing to invest in their development, and promoting them in due course to full-time positions as Training Facilitators.

(TAKEN FROM: Hlumelelisa website. “Hlumelelisa” is an Nguni word meaning “a new spirit”, or more literally, “to heal from a broken bone”.)

4. WHERE LONG-TERMERS DIE BY INCHES

• By Paul Pereira

Paul Bruns and his colleagues at Hlumelelisa could hardly have come up with a more apt programme than their horticultural training programme in some prisons. That’s not least because SA’s courts have “transformed” since the advent of full democracy in the mid-Nineties – and the Bench is now primarily filled by Black African judges many or most of which are women. They are much, much, harsher in their sentencing than their apartheid-era predecessors.

Where only 7% of sentences were for five-to-10 years in 1995, this had risen to 21% by 2012. Where a negligible 2% of people convicted by our courts in 1995 got sentences of more than 10 years, this applied to 48% of people in 2012.

So, whereas the prisons were now mainly housed long-termers, their Correctional Services routines, training and other activity offerings remain designed for short-termers. Mostly, people just sit locked in cells and cost-savings have facilities operated by skeleton staff numbers on weekends. Then it’s locked-in on Fridays through to Monday. More than ever, these are places where, for many years, the souls of residents are dying by inches.

Despite having 240 public and private prisons and with plans to build more, South Africa has only once come close to ending overcrowding and that was through a special Presidential remission and conversion of sentences to mark Freedom Day in 2012, which saw prison overcrowding fall from 37% to just 2%. But, with 156 000 prisoners, we were back to an overcrowding rate of 28% within two years.

SA Prison Snapshot (2012)

 It’s a male thing

• Male: 97%

It’s a black thing

• Africans: 77%
• Coloureds: 20%
• Whites: 2%
• Indians: 1%

It’s a young thing

• Aged 14 to 25 years: 45%

 SOURCES: Department of Correctional Services 2012 annual report; Human Rights Watch; SAIRR 2012 SA Survey; TimesLive

5. “THE GOODNESS IN PEOPLE” 

WATCH: https://web.facebook.com/watch/?v=627649604828938&ref=sharing

 To Witness

“Since I started working at the nursery, my whole life has changed.

I have more trust in members as well as inmates.

This place makes me feel more positive and peaceful. My whole life changed here at the nursery.”

• – Willie Pieterse, Warden, Leeuwkop Medium A 

6. TO LOOK AT THE SKY AGAIN 

“Doesn’t matter who you are.

Doesn’t matter what you’ve done.

Only matters what is true.

I love you.”

LISTEN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnHylI-Ciw8

7. “I AM A PERSON”

“Once our students are released, we have a ceremony and plant a tree.

Part of this is to go home and ‘give something back’.

But the most important thing is to be able to stand up and say:

‘I’m worth something.

I’m not a failure.

I’m not a criminal.

I’m a person.

Just trust me.

And love me.”

(ABOVE QUOTATION: Paul Bruns quoted on Hlumelelisa Facebook.)

8. TO BE WORTHY OF OUR BROTHER

 “Thixo Ono’thando” (God of love)

In this profound prayer, we ask Our Lord if we may be worthy of His Grace and of His Spirit, so that we may transform by our practical examples into effective witnesses to His Love.

We are asking to be a fraction Godly in our depth and breadth of loving understanding, curiosity, humility, and brotherhood/sisterhood with each other.

That, perhaps, I too may be a shepherd;

if even just as a small image of His servant, my brother Paul Bruns

–  in a love visible, to witness about You.

(It seems right to be led in this Xhosa prayer by students of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (the old UPE))

 WATCH: Thixo Onothando _ NMMU CHOIR – YouTube 

Thixo ono’thando (God of love)

Ndimi phambi kwakho (Here I am before You)

Thixo ono’thando (God of love)

Ndiph’ uthando ndifakaze ngawe (Give me love to witness about You)

Thixo ndila namhla (Lord, Here I am)

Hosanna! Hosanna phezulu (Hosanna on High!)

Hosanna! Hosanna enyangweni (Hosanna in the Highest!)

Thixo ono’thando (God of Love)

Ndiph’ uthando ndifakaze ngawe (Give me love to witness about You)

9. TO HEAL FROM A BROKEN BONE

We talk about them,

not because we’re stuck

nor because we haven’t moved on,

but we talk about them

because we are theirs,

and they are ours,

and no passage of time

will ever change that.

• – Scribbles & Crumbs 

Relevant contact details:

• hlumelelisa.org
• 2. Mrs Claire Hugo (née Bruns), claireb.hugo@gmail.com