Cape Town - Reformed Mitchells Plain gangster Mark Jeneker continues using art to inspire pupils at Portland Primary School.
School principal Eleanor Braaf said his role in helping to identify at-risk children has became invaluable.
“He’s doing art therapy with them,” Braaf said. "If I notice that a child is not okay emotionally we send them to him and he asks them to do a drawing, and based on the type of drawing and colours the pupil uses he will be able to distinguish what the problem is with pupil.”
Jeneker said he loves what he does, having turned his life around more than a decade ago.
“When I was released from prison in 1998, after being arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to five years, I decided to change my life. I went to church and got my healing and decided to give back to the community.”
Jeneker says he wants to give children opportunities he never had.
“Growing up, I never got the chance to get exposed to art. I have two brothers who are both gangsters and I saw them as my role models. Back then I didn’t want to live a positive life, I was hyped up by the wrong things, which later landed me in prison,” he said.
He is a part-time art teacher at Portland Primary School, giving lessons after school.
“I’ve started the Mark Jeneker Foundation, which was registered in 2017. I never received any funding. The aim of the foundation is to keep the children off the streets. It’s all about the children and keeping them happy and proud of themselves. We also try to enter competitions and exhibitions so they can see that people notice their work and that they should continue working hard,” he said.
Three of his pupils, Chloe Temper, Jayden-Lee Fisher and Dakota Peterson, have their artwork displayed at the Zeitz MOCAA museum in the V&A Waterfront .
Braaf said she was grateful for Jeneker.
“Hiring him was the best decision I’ve ever made, but now we face a challenge of not having any sponsors or enough money to pay him, but I’m proud of the amazing work he’s doing at the school,” Braaf says.
To help grow the initiative, contact Jeneker on 078 637 8853, or Braaf on 083 782 1919
Cape Times