The Department of Correctional Services in South Africa is in the process of transforming its strategies to become an institution focusing on offender rehabilitation. Within this process, education and training programs are tools used to activate the offender rehabilitation process. These initiatives are supported by social work as well as psychological and spiritual/religious counseling. The implementation of these strategies is found in the White Paper on Corrections and approved by the South African Government. Certain objectives against which the department should be measured are set out in the White Paper. It is believed that the guidelines in the White Paper will pave the way to reduce recidivism. However, the South African Criminal Justice System does not have a scientific mechanism to track offenders after their release from prison, nor to keep track of reoffending and resentencing. An additional obstacle in the implementation of offender rehabilitation plans is that South African prisons are severely overcrowded which creates a shortage in educational services, as well as educational staff, social workers, and psychologists. In order for rehabilitation to become a reality, rehabilitation programs offered to offenders should first, focus on the orientation of the offender to change his/her attitude towards becoming involved in skills and training programs. As long as the offender sees participation in these programs merely as a potential method to influence the parole board, rehabilitation will remain a myth. Tables, bibliography