Programme Director,
Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Mr E Surty,
MEC for Education, Ms B Creecy,
MEC for Community Safety, Ms N Mazibuko,
All Mayors and Councillors present,
National Commissioner of Police, General V Phiyega,
Director-General, Basic Education,
Sakhisizwe Secondary School Top Management and
Teachers,
All SAPS Top Management present,
All Basic Education Top Management present,
All Police Officers and Officials present,
School Governing Bodies present,
Religious Sector and Civil Society,
School children and youth,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Good afternoon to the principal, teachers, students of Sakhisizwe Secondary School, and the community at large. We have invited ourselves to your school to be part of building the nation with you, for that is what the name of your school means. We are here to honour the school where we gather today. Thank you very much, Acting Principal for your generous welcome to your school.
Most importantly, I want to acknowledge all the school children who, are participating here today. As much as we might seem to be all old and all wise in front of you, but I am sure you have your own insights as young people, and to help us get to the bottom of your needs as the future of our beloved country, South Africa.
We are all here to introduce to you a programme of partnership against crime, between the school, teachers, learners, communities, families, parents, and Government (Departments of Police and Basic Education).
We are here as Government to acknowledge that some of you might have already been afflicted by some form of crime, be it bullying, be it sexual molestation, be it theft of personal property, be it physically attack, etc.
Indeed, some of you might even be very afraid to report these crimes due to fear of intimidation. We are here, to encourage you to report these crimes without fear, and, we are here to work together with you to find ways and tools on how to stay away from crime and criminals.
We are here to guide you on how better to work with the Police Officers, and make the most of the service delivery at the police stations.
Linking the Sakhisizwe Secondary School to De Deur Police Station is an effort to improve your lives by installing security infrastructure such as fences and alarms; influencing the social environment by providing extra-curricular activities that teach you skills such as crime prevention and conflict resolution; and by providing a dedicated Cop who will provide safety support for learners, educators and parents.
The Protocol Partnership between SAPS and Basic Education is to vividly help show you that the entire community needs to be involved in the solutions against crime. Our partnership is a building block, because crime prevention crosses many boundaries, and thus crime is not just a Government problem, otherwise there wouldn’t have been such a broad range people here today.
A critical element in any partnership to prevent crime is the ability to effectively and swiftly enforce our laws and to ensure our schools; streets and houses are safe on a daily basis. And as Police, we are always looking for opportunities to police smarter, more effectively and more efficiently.
If anyone gets caught doing crime, he or she will be apprehended and prosecuted in the court of law. If you are found to be guilty, you may be sent to juvenile correction centre.
Enforcing the law and holding people accountable for their actions will always be a priority of the Police and the justice system. There will always be a need to hold people who break the law accountable for their actions. But Police doing it alone, we certainly won’t help you to change behaviour before you even get involved in any criminal or anti-social activity.
That is why we are all saying that families and parents play an important role to prevent youth from being involved in crimes. As Police, we encourage parents to keep a close eye on their children’s activities, and be constantly aware of the type of company that their children are involved with. Only then, parents can help to prevent thief children from going astray.
If parents don’t do this, then gangs and other criminal elements and drug-dealing syndicates might take advantage of our alienated children. Gangsterism takes root in schools for many reasons, but the primary attraction of gangs is their ability to respond to student needs that are not otherwise being met elsewhere, especially in the family sphere.
These gangs, who are brutal bullies to our school children, often provide you with a sense of family and acceptance otherwise lacking in your lives. Therefore, the Partnership Protocol is aimed to make you understand how gangsterism can be avoided at all cost. We are here to make sure that our schools are better prepared to better respond to these thugs.
We are hopeful that the Partnership Protocol and its programmes will set up a new dynamic to prevent crime. This Partnership Protocol is aimed at successfully diverting you young people from troubles in the streets into local preventative programs.
We hope for strong community service programs that would be put in place, with kids working on neighbourhood regeneration programs in their own communities as well as skill enhancing activities like being involved in recreational activities such as sport and art.
Our message to you today is that, you are the future leaders of the country so you should all stay away from crime and focus on your studies. Remember, the nation depends on you. Remember the sacrifices made by the youth of 1976 so that you could benefit to a better-resourced education, than they did during apartheid.
You must all know and appreciate that, since 1994, this government had taken on the hard work of getting you a better education. Do you know that before 1994, a child like you from this Orange Farm background only got R146, whilst a child from a rich neighbourhood like Sunninghill, got R1211?
Today, the Budget of Basic Education, which is more than R16 000 billion, and is evenly and equitable allocated to all 9 Provinces without discrimination based on race, class or gender.
You should therefore not be discouraged about current challenges that you experience as today’s youth. Instead, be energised by the great work that is happening within the community, and within government, both on crime prevention and equal education, and on efforts by our police officers to make our communities safer overall.
This Partnership Protocol whose sole aim is to equip our teachers, through training, to pick up on signs of mental distress or behavioural issues amongst the school children they educate and nurture, should encourage you.
Ultimately, this Partnership Protocol between the SAPS and Basic Education seeks for an inter-departmental approach to crime prevention, so that departments like Social Development can identify situations where intervention by social workers may be necessary.
Seeing so many of you here today is very encouraging. It shows you are serious about your education, as it is the only key to your bright future.
I thank you all!
Contact:
Nomsa Hani
Head of Office and Acting Spokesperson: Deputy Minister of Police
Cell: 082 772 2053
Tel: 012 393 4469 or 021 467 7023
Fax: 012 393 4614 or 021 461 4174
E-mail: HaniNomsa@saps.gov.za
