From inmate to international consultant: Awande Mshotana’s mission to humanise justice

Justice Stakeholders from across the globe will join the Incarceration Nations Network (INN) in South Africa for a global convening to explore justice innovation and "smart-on-crime" strategies.

The event, held from April 14–16 in Cape Town, marks the historic launch of the Global Freedom Consulting Agency (GF Consulting)—the world’s first consulting agency comprised entirely of formerly incarcerated leaders.

Among the experts is South African Awande Mshotana, Head of Education at the People’s Legal Centre. Mshotana, who leads community-based paralegal training programs, earned his LLB degree cum laude from the University of South Africa (UNISA) while serving a prison sentence.

Reflecting on his journey, Mshotana highlighted the disparity in the legal system:

"If you have money, you will experience justice, and if you don't, you'll experience punishment. Not knowing and understanding a system that can take so much from you can be disempowering."

Mshotana has already contributed to international policy discussions at the University of Stellenbosch, New York University School of Law, and the United Nations in Vienna.

The three-day conference is held in partnership with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It brings together 34 consultants from 19 countries, specialising in:

Reintegration and education behind bars

Community safety and restorative justice

Legal empowerment

Mshotana aims to use his role at GF Consulting to ensure corporate companies, government institutions, and NGOs make decisions informed by community participation rather than just academic theory.

Speaking to Eyewitness News, Mshotana noted that while South Africa excels at providing formal higher education opportunities compared to much of the Global South, the distribution is unequal.

The Success: Access to university-level degrees for the incarcerated.

The Failure: These opportunities are largely restricted to specific "UNISA hubs." Those in rural or smaller prisons often lack the information and resources to apply, creating a divide in access to knowledge.

"We are all so eager to understand [the law]," Mshotana says, "but there is no easy access to it, and systemic inequality due to socio-economic conditions... creates most of the exclusion."