It cannot be morally and socially acceptable that we have within society children as young as ten years being involved in drugs. As law enforcement agencies we have begun intensifying a national drug campaign to fight substance abuse.
These were sentiments echoed by the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa when he addressed young people at the 7th Future Leaders Youth Entrepreneurship, Moral Regeneration Conference and Careers Expo, held in Durban today. He said government will not, by itself, address the drug, alcohol and crime problems. Members of society are expected to form part of efforts to address crime and corruption, by participating in community policing forums and more directly, by reporting crime and corruption to police where they encounter these.
“Drugs are both a crime and a cause of crime. Our premise as a Ministry of Police is also based on a realisation that unless we engage young people in challenges facing them, including crime, it would be difficult to effectively address these challenges,” commented the Minister.
He further urged the youth to consider careers within policing to help fight crime. Part of the department’s recruitment drive over the next years is to increase the number of police men and women by 10 percent. “Part of this recruitment will mean attracting some of the brightest South Africans to form part of our institution. We are convinced that some among you here, have the potential to contribute to the beefing of our skills as police, whether it is within our detectives, forensics, paralegal as well as intelligence units,” he added.
One of the findings from our crime analysis over the past months, is that in South Africa around 70 percent of crime is mainly concentrated around three provinces; namely Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. “A further analysis tells us that crime in South Africa is committed by the same offenders again and again, and this would represent a very small percentage of the population. Sadly, the majority is the youth and it cannot be business as usual when our prisons are filled by vulnerable young people.”
The conference attracted in excess of over 7 000 youth from around the country, under the theme: “We will make Africa proud, by saying no to crime, prostitution and drugs 2010 from the eyes of the African Youth!” Young people in South Africa, the continent’s diaspora and in all four corners of our world are daily compounded by crime, prostitution and drugs. These vices and evil manifestations in our society imperil prospects of youth in our respective countries.
The ministry will continue to mobilise youth formations, interfaith, cultural and traditional organisations for the creation of cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. Police will be going for the drug lords as the prime targets and are already beginning to deal a deadly blow to these heartless criminals.
For enquiries please contact:
Zweli Mnisi
Cell: 082 045 4024
