ANCYL: Books, the new liberation struggle
ALEXANDRA - A branch of the ANC youth league in Alex is concerned of parents neglecting their children's education and of high crime they alleged is partly fuelled by some in the police service.
A branch of the ANC Youth League in Alex is concerned about parents neglecting their children’s education and of the high crime rate they allege is partly fuelled by some in the police service.
Reviewing the progress and challenges faced by youth during Youth Month, Keith Maphutha, chairperson of the league’s Andrew Radebe branch said neglecting parental responsibilities resulted in children loitering on the streets during school hours. Maphutha also said some in the police services colluded with criminals. This, he said, created conditions which allowed crime to thrive.
He said some children drop out of school in a bid emulate criminals, whose flashy lifestyles appealed to them. Maphutha said despite illiteracy, parents have a duty to show interest in their children’s education which is funded by the State.
“They should supervise their children’s homework and all of them should stop and ask any child seen on the street to explain why they aren’t in school, [and should be improving] their own lives through education,” said Maphutha.
“The new liberation struggle should be won through books to enable children to have professions, think positively and to want to contribute to national transformation programmes. The lack of education is exploited by criminals who sell them drugs, make them couriers and prostitutes destined for prisons and exposure to mental health problems, HIV/Aids and other diseases.”
He said drug dealers were known to the community which should make it easy to get rid of them in the township if parents were committed. However, he added that reporting the dealers, users and other criminals was discouraged by some officers. He claimed some were carrying the dealers’ drugs, alerting them to planned raids and limiting police visibility. “We have evidence of collusion, which may be why residents don’t report for fear of reprisals by the involved police officials and criminals,” he said.
Maphutha also lamented the lack of the local policing forum’s visibility which allowed criminals to operate with impunity.
“The forum gets involved in things that are not core to their mandate, like housing disputes, at the expense of their crime combating duties,” he concluded.
