Programme Directors,
Reverend Moses who delivered the devotion of the day,
Distinguished Heads of Departments,
Department of Social Development - Mr L Cwange,
Department of Education - Ms P Teka,
National Prosecuting Authority - Advocate Mampofu,
South African Police Services - General Hloba,
Acting Chief Operating Officer Mr Alfred Tsetsane,
Chief Deputy Commissioners,
Human Reources - Mr Teboho Mokoena,
Remand Detention - Ms Britta Rotmann,
Govt Information - Ms Nthabiseng Mosupye,
Actg Strategic Management - Ms Noluthando Sihlezana,
Regional Commissioner of ECape (our host) Mr Nkosinathi Breakfast,
Acting Regional Commissioner of FS/NC - Ms Grace Molatedi,
Senior Correctional Services officials present here,
Distinguished Community of East London,
The Boxing Fratenity of EL,
Mr Vuyani Bungu,
Distinguished guests,
Learners from different schools,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen.
The Reverend says "we are the children of light..." very poignant words of great inspiration! Very pointed and appropriate for the ocassion!
Thanks RC Breakfast for the warm words of welcome to your region. Thanks Actg COO Mr Tsetsane for contextualising the purpose of the occasion! Let me report at this moment that our official have to the hospital to wish Tata Madiba well, it is correct because he spent 27 years of his time in our facilities: Victor Vester (now Drakenstein) and on Robben Island.
June is the month associated with youth matters and it is good that we create awareness of youth matters during this period. It was on 16 June 1976 - 37 years ago when the youth of our country embarked on a historical protest march to fight against fascist- apartheid Bantu education in the country and the compulsory use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction.
Approximately 700 people, most of them youths, were killed in clashes with the police. They paid the ultimate price for a legitimate cause - today we pay homage to the heroes and heroines of this gallant struggle for Freedom in our country.
Mine is however not to dwell on the history of the youth. My concern is about the youth issues of today. Issues that are so compelling that we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to - issues around substance and drug abuse. Youth Month therefore, becomes one of the platforms to engage and reflect.
The Role of the Youth in a society is pivotal as they are the future leaders who will be responsible for the country's affairs. Correctional Services is one such entity which can provide an unbiased barometer of what the state of affairs are in the country, better than another institution.
It is a sad reality that more than one third of our offender population comprises of the youth. It is an indictment against society. It is an indictment against parents and it is an indictment against me and you. All of us get to do with the youth, whether as parents or relatives or community member or teachers or in any other capacity. It is inevitable.
The questions that we must ask ourselves are: How did we impact on them? What example did we set? Have we done enough to ensure that they have a value system and integrity? Did we encourage them and did we create opportunities for them? The answers are not always easy to determine and sometimes it is uncomfortable to ask these very important questions.
Ladies and gentleman, distinguished guests,
Substance abuse is an enormous social problem in the world and South Africa has entered the race at an alarming rate and pace. Alcohol abuse is the most costly form of substance abuse in our country, the cost to the country is alarming (approximately R130 billion per annum) in terms of it's devastating impact; namely, through loss of life:
- 7 000 motorists and pedestrians are killed every year from alcohol related deaths
- about 31% of the citizens have an alcohol related problem or are at risk of having this problem
- 45% of women who are dependent on drugs are likely to be victims of rape and physical abuse and they are likely to be victims of incest - the most vulnerable age groups are between 14 - 35 years.
Concomitantly, this leads to loss of productivity at workplace, crime and destruction to property and high cost of medical care (treatment). Substance abuse poses a serious threat to the youth or adolescent population of our country and it's about time we take a stand to reverse the damage it's causing from a sociology-economic perspective!
We live likelier of perceptions. Every one perceives as he or she wishes. Off course I am a good parent! – because that is what I wish to believe I am and equally a good role model and a good mentor! – because that is what I want to believe. Off course I set a good example etc. etc. It is time that we realize that all is not well with our youth. It is time that we get involved in youth development programmes.
It is time that we become the mentors that we ought to be. Why is it that young offender is the fastest growing category of offenders in our correctional centres? It certainly cannot only be blamed on inadequate upbringing and guidance. Every young person must after all take responsibility for him or herself. Even amidst trying circumstances.
Dr David Hawkins (Researcher) has this to say "what we know now, our own longitudinal studies is that we create more opportunities for our young people to be engaged in positive pro-social ways - in family, in schools, in classrooms, in neighbourhood if we ensure they have skills they need developmentally to master these opportunities they have, if we are consistent in reinforcing and recognizing them ... for doing a good job, they become more committed and attached to schools, more bonded to family, more committed to the neighbourhood.
And once they have bonded, they are more likely to live according to healthy beliefs and clear standards" We live in trying times and the youth are bombarded with challenges. Peer pressure is immense and it is not easy to resist. However, I believe that drugs and drug abuse is the most serious challenge to our youth. Drugs seem to be almost freely available and it destroys lives on every day that goes by.
Drugs negatively influence rational thinking and it impairs judgement. People under the influence of drugs perceive themselves to be untouchable; they believe that their crimes will not be detected. To make matters worse, they have to rely on criminal activity to get enough funds to sustain their addiction.
Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests,
Allow me to demonstrate the scary part of the illicit economy (multi-trillion Rand) and impact of substance and drug abuse, a reality check of the serious nature of this social disaster - it is alleged that approximately 40 000 metric tons of dagga is produced worldwide and SA produces around 3 000 tons (KZN) and accounts for R3,5bn spent in consumption.
With the dawn of democracy, new forms of "exotic" and potent drugs became available in the market, thus changing the consumption levels a different trajectory all together. The following are the most available illicit drugs in the South African landscape:
- Tik
- Heroine
- Ecstasy
- Nyaope
- Medicines (prescription medicines)
- Glue
- Tobacco
I do not have verified statistics but I am convinced that drugs played a role in the majority of crimes committed by the offenders in our system. One can therefore safely say that the use of drugs are likely to lead to criminal activity and criminal activity leads to incarceration and in many cases it leads to destroyed lives and destroyed families.
All is however not all doom and gloom. The White Paper on Corrections in South Africa categorises the youth as a vulnerable group. They fall into a category of people who, even after serving a lengthy sentence, still have a chance of making something of their lives. Provision of rehabilitation programmes and programmes aimed at correcting offending behaviour focussing on human development, education and training of the youth is key in preventing re-offending.
Sixty percent of the black youth, of the economically active age, between 18-35 are in correctional facilities, serve long sentences for serious and violent crimes - murder, rape, cash-in-transit! In most of these cases drugs are a common denominator, we have observed the swelling numbers of children, also in detention centres or serving long term sentences. Yesterday, i visited Kroonstad crrctional centre, the juvenile section, a very somber and heart-rending set.
A combination of toxic mixture of what you expect in modern day South Africa, murder, rape, housebreaking, drug trafficking... raw and unapologetic membership to gangs.
Hopelessness...
Relate the Cradock case rape of his granny...
Substance and drug abuse robs the country of its important asset.
The department is increasing its number of accredited schools in correctional centres so that young offenders can engage in formal schooling and they can even be assisted to enrol for tertiary education. Apart from formal education there are also opportunities for vocational and skills training. It is crucial that we leave no stone unturned in our strive to ensure that every offender leaves the correctional centre better equipped to live a meaningful and crime free life.
The department believes that the rehabilitation process must be enhanced by also exposing young offenders to sports activities, recreational activities and exposure to arts and cultural activities. It is important to stimulate their interest in these activities because it will assist them to deal with stress and it can also enhance their social reintegration into the community.
Tomorrow at this same venue there will be a boxing tournament. Offenders from all over the country will compete in different weight divisions. I am not a boxer but I can imagine that it can relieve a lot of stress. We have also recently presented an offender jazz festival in Cape Town an offender arts group will participate in the Grahamstown Arts festival from 3 to 5 July 2013.
Today’s event provides opportunity for the young offenders here with us to engage with a panel of representatives of various state departments on issues that they want to enquire about or issues that they want to register for attention. It is important that opportunities be provided for young offenders to express themselves.
My message today to the young offenders is that you must repent and accept responsibility for what you have done. At the same time you must grab all the opportunities that are available to you to grow as a person and to prepare you for a valuable, self-sustaining and crime free lives.
To the young people in the community; I encourage you to face up to life irrespective of all the challenges it may present and always strive to do what is good and right. Make use of the opportunities that present itself and live responsible, honest and decent lives. Stay away from criminal activity and definitely stay away from drugs. It is bound to destroy your live and that of those who love you.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,
If we invest in prevention now, there is a great potential that we shall save our youth and the criminal justice system costs. This will invariably be observed and felt in the form of cross benefit studies conducted around the world, this also saves the communities of all kinds of pain to family where substance abuse tears the families part.
Alcohol and South Africa’s youth
"South Africa (SA) is a hard drinking country. It is reckoned that we consume in excess of 5 billion litres of alcohol annually; this figure is likely to be higher still if sorghum beer is included, and equates to 9 - 10 litres of pure alcohol per person. According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report released in 2011, this is among the highest per capita consumption rates in the world, and it is continuing to rise.
More alarming still is that the WHO awards South Africa a score of 4 (drinking 5 or more beers or glasses of wine at one sitting for men, and more than 3 drinks for women) out of 5 on a least risky to most risky patterns-of-drinking scale – the higher the score, the greater the alcohol-attributable burden of disease for the country.
This readership will not need reminding of the associated disease burden. But it is worth contemplating the financial and social cost. The cost to the fiscus, ‘that relates to absenteeism, poor productivity, high job turnover, interpersonal conflict and injuries and damage to property, is reckoned to be around R9 billion per year, equivalent to 1% of GDP’.
A high social cost accrues from the behaviour that attends drunkenness: crime (murder and assault, rape, robbery), interpersonal – including domestic – violence, sexual offences against children, reckless driving (or walking) accounting for road traffic deaths and injuries involving passengers and pedestrians, unsafe sex and sexual promiscuity with transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), fatal alcohol syndrome and child neglect, and school truancy.
Alcoholism among youth is a particular concern,4 given that at least half of SA’s population are categorised as young people, under 35. Surveys have shown that alcohol use among our youth is common and increases with age for both males and females. There is also a tendency to more harmful binge drinking.
Reasons for use and misuse of alcohol include peer pressure and a desire to fit in, poor home environs and boredom, ignorance of alcohol’s harms, and the relative cheapness of alcohol products and their ease of access. High youth unemployment rates must be an exacerbating factor. And in SA, alcohol is easily purchased from bottle stores, supermarkets, bars and shebeens and other unlicensed liquor outlets, which outnumber licensed ones, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
The problem is not peculiar to SA. Many countries, of which the UK is but one, lament their own experience of harmful drinking by youngsters. A recent UK report extensively reviews the vulnerability of youth to alcohol’s harms. Adverse outcomes in children and young people range from the hard to the soft.
Easily appreciated hard effects are acute alcohol poisoning and liver disease, UK hospitals regularly describing patients in their early 20s with alcohol-related hepatitis, and women with cirrhosis by the time they are 30. Then there are injury, often as a result of assault, and unprotected sex leading to high levels of teenage pregnancy and risk of contracting STD, including, in SA, HIV.
Softer outcomes include the physical (appetite changes, weight loss, eczema, headaches) and the behavioural (sleep disturbance, poor school and college performance, failure to form and maintain friendships, tendency to depression and/or aggressive behaviour, and greater likelihood of experimenting with cannabis and other illegal substances).
Less well appreciated, perhaps, is that the adolescent brain, which is still growing, is especially vulnerable to alcohol’s toxic effects, with risk of cognitive deficits, poor executive functioning and poor long-term memory.
What is to be done? There have been a number of educational initiatives and attempts on the part of both governmental and non-governmental organisations to mitigate the effects of boredom and social deprivation in our communities, yet the problem of alcohol misuse persists. Recently the Minister of Health has suggested a ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship; he wishes also to raise the age of legal alcohol consumption from the present 18 to 21.
A similar case for a UK advertising ban was made by the British Medical Association in 2009, although without result. Our Minister’s stance is based on the reduction in smoking that followed the ban on tobacco advertising, one of the principal aims of the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act of October 2000 having been to ‘Reduce the pressure on young people to begin a lifelong (tobacco) addiction at age 15 and younger.’
In this issue of SAMJ, the public health case for the Minister’s proposed ban is presented by Parry and colleagues, who cite evidence that advertising sets out to deliberately target young people, while the early age at which our youth begin drinking, and the harms that ensue, are amply captured in the analysis by Ramsoomar and Morojele.
The Minister will hope to exploit the evidence that delaying a young person’s first drink will prevent development of harmful drinking habits. The impact on SA’s youth, so many of whom lead socially and economically deprived lives, may however prove disappointing”, Janet Seggie
To the correctional officials of East London: Thank you for your hard work and dedication. It is not easy to work in a correctional centre with its abnormal nature and environment. Take care of those entrusted to your care and lead by example in pursuing what is good and right.
I thank you!
