Gayton McKenzie

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Gayton McKenzie is a South African motivational speaker who came to public attention in 2002 when he and a small group of inmates smuggled secret video cameras into Grootvlei Prison in the Free State province.

The motivation for this was McKenzie's shock at witnessing the nine-hour rape of a fourteen year old white boy. McKenzie, who grew up during Apartheid, and was classified racially as a "coloured", had entered prison as a racist. This event, one of innumerable rapes that he witnessed during his more than seven years in jail, changed his view. Corrupt wardens, who had sold the boy to a rapist gang, told McKenzie that there was "not enough proof" to do anything about the rape. This was in spite of the boy's physical appearance.

McKenzie, who, until then had been a committed criminal, having entered jail for, among other crimes, bank robbery, and who was one of the prison's most senior gang members, turned his back on crime. The secret video footage showed numerous acts of warden corruption, including buying prison food, supplying drugs and liquor, smuggling a loaded pistol into jail and, finally, selling a juvenile for the purpose of sex to another prisoner, who was also part of the video team. When the footage hit national television, and was also screened internationally, McKenzie's team became knows as the "Grootvlei Four". They were subsequently victimised in prison, with several attempts made on their lives. Three of the four men (other video makers' identities had been successfully kept secret) were finally released from prison after obtaining remissions of sentence for their exposure work. McKenzie went on to marry Nicolett Joubert. She was an advocate he met while still in jail when she was sent by the South African Presidency as a member of the Jali Commission tasked with investigating corruption in South African prisons.

After his release he went on a national campaign to combat ever-higher levels of crime in South Africa. His talks to school children were sponsored by a security company, and he is still serving as an advocate against crime. Thus far, he has reached 1.6 million South African school children of all ages. He was also voted the country's top corporate speaker for the last three years.

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