Youth are key in crime fight

The Public Safety Youth Focal Point will bring on board young people in difficult circumstances to play their part in the fight to stop crime.
A JOINT campaign uniting Joburg’s emergency management services (EMS) and metro police is targeting out-of-school and unemployed youth in an effort to cut down crime.

As part of Safety Month, the City’s Public Safety Youth Focal Point is bringing on board people between the ages of 14 and 35 to help to improve public safety. The programme is aimed at reaching about 5 000 in and out of school youth in the City.

The first of two campaigns begins in Kliptown today at 10am. Members of the Public Safety Youth Focal Point will talk to young people in the township about various aspects of public safety, namely: basic first aid, human trafficking, public safety career awareness, public safety by-laws and a safe environment.

The programme will be taken to Realogile High School in Alexandra on 27 February. The EMS’s Lufuno Maphagela says: “This is an initiative taken by the City in building a safe, secure Joburg towards [Joburg 2040, the Growth and Development Strategy].”

The campaign is largely aimed at young people living in difficult conditions in townships and informal settlements, who are prone to commit crimes because of vulnerability and desperation.

At the official launch of Safety and Security Month on 3 February, the MEC for community safety, Faith Mazibuko, said: “It has become a norm that the month of February is dedicated to the efforts of heightening awareness in our communities and where we seek to intensify our efforts in maintaining a high level of safety in Gauteng.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------