SOCIAL Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has called on the greater Nelson Mandela Bay community to work with the government in a bid to get rid of social ills. Dlamini was speaking during a meeting on “risky youth behaviour” held at the Dan
Qeqe Stadium in Zwide, Port Elizabeth, yesterday.
“This engagement is part of our intervention focusing on poor families.
“We came across a family where 11 of their children decided to go and live at a dumping site,” Dlamini said.
‘We also find children in taverns, and we talk to them.
“That the youth face problems and challenges is a common phenomenon all over the world . . . We urge communities to work with the government because the youth are the future of our country.”
Dlamini, who was accompanied by a government delegation, deployed a team of social service practitioners to the Bay in October with the aim of assessing the state of social services delivery.
The officials found that young people in the Zwide area abused drugs and alcohol, which led to the possibility of them engaging in violence and risky sexual behaviour, and facing the risk of teenage pregnancy and dropping out of school.
“The abuse of alcohol strengthens these problems, but it’s something we can easily overcome and we urge them to work with the government,” she said.
Among the department’s solutions to the challenges faced by the youth is the roll-out of a parenting skills programme entitled Active Parenting of Teenagers, which is directed at assisting the parents of teenagers.
The programme also explores the stages of adolescence and its dynamics, assists parents in understanding their teenagers, enables parents to deal better with the challenges of raising teenagers and highlights the support system available to parents.
The drive to assist the Bay’s youth was reinforced by Eastern Cape Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi last night when she launched Operation Hlangula – a “primary youth mobilisation drive for activism against crime, drugs and teenage pregnancy” – at the Walmer High School.
“The Social Development Department has noted with great concern the high rate of substance abuse, domestic violence, irresponsible sexual behaviour and child neglect [particularly] during the festive season,” department spokesman Mzukisi Solani said.
A door-to-door campaign led by Sihlwayi would visit the northern areas, Uitenhage, Motherwell, Zwide and New Brighton this morning, he said.
This story appeared in Weekend Post on Saturday, 19 December, 2015 |
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