Our Team
Linda Majokweni
Founding Director
Since my earliest memories, I've always believed that I have a specific and divine purpose to fulfil. This led me to pursue a career in contributing to the fight against financial crime. For almost two decades, I worked alongside professionals with the common goal of creating a safer world for future generations. After becoming a mother, my desire to continue fighting crime and creating a safer world intensified.
However, the increasing rate of criminal activities within South Africa and globally, led me to re-evaluate my approach to focus on exploring the root causes of criminal behaviour as a preventative measure to crime. To aid in my research, I turned to Abraham Maslow's "A Theory of Human Motivation," which outlines human needs that influence behaviour, which was later revised and expanded in 1970 to include three additional categories based on his observations of human curiosity:
- Psychological needs – food, water, shelter and warmth
- Safety needs – security, stability and freedom from fear
- Belonging/love needs – friends, family, spouse and lover
- Self-esteem needs – achievement, mastery, recognition and respect
- Self-actualisation needs – pursue inner, talent, creativity and fulfilment.
- Cognitive needs – knowledge, understanding, curiousity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability
- Aesthetic needs – appreciation and search for beauty, balance and form
- Transcendence needs – the motivation by values that transcend beyond the personal self (mystical experiences and certain experiences with nature, sexual experiences, service to others, the pursuit of science and religious faith)
I analysed various categories and multiple factors to gain an informed understanding of why people commit crimes. These factors include emotional triggers like anger, pride, rage, or revenge; psychological factors such as trauma, abuse, neglect, poor mental health, and substance abuse; political motives; religious extremism, and fanaticism. In addition, the economic and social factors include poverty, unemployment, peer pressure, inequality, high inflation, and limited access to services.
Although various experts, institutions and organisations continue to study and refine their understanding of these factors, one common denominator stands out: people who commit crimes do so from a place of lack or deficiency. Such lack relates to the breakdown of connections, interactions, or relationships that individuals have experienced or are currently engaged in.
Relationships hold immense significance in shaping a person's life experience and can have either a positive or negative impact on their overall well-being and environment. These relationships include a person's relationship with themselves, including self-esteem and self-worth, as well as their relationships with others, such as family, friends, acquaintances, romantic partners, professional colleagues, and authority figures. The primary objective of this process was to evaluate the correlation between a person's state of relationships and the factors contributing to criminal behaviour.
The aim of this exercise is not to justify or excuse criminal behaviour, but to understand the underlying reasons why some people commit crimes while others do not. It is not suggested that everyone involved in an unhealthy relationship will commit a crime but highlighted that those who do or have engaged in criminal activities, have all been or are in some way involved in unhealthy relationships.
This newfound clarity has led me to focus on helping people develop and maintain healthy and constructive relationships that cater to their fundamental needs as human beings. I believe that healthy relationships are the most significant reward in human life, including the bond with oneself, others, and nature. My life philosophy is rooted in the teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (a French philosopher, Jesuit, and palaeontologist), who believed that humans are evolving mentally and socially towards a final spiritual unity as highlighted in his well-known quote: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience."
I remain passionate about eliminating criminal activities that negatively impact our societies. However, my focus has shifted towards social reform and social justice. This is because social reform and social justice are crucial in addressing the social challenges that communities encounter, as well as tackling the root causes of crime. The key to social cohesion lies in addressing people's relationships with themselves and their community members.
My passion aligns with my purpose of reflecting the Divine's love and light that exists within us all. It is essential to recognise this same love and light within each other. The success of social reform and social justice depends on the prioritisation and communication of the significance of harnessing the power of this inherent love and light within us all. This is particularly important when we are faced with overwhelming challenges. Effective implementation of this approach will enable communities to overcome challenges and work together towards social cohesion, security, prosperity, and inclusivity.
Love and Light..Always 🙏🏽🕊️❤️