Mthokozisi Nxumalo MP
IFP Youth Brigade Chairperson
The IFP Youth Brigade (IFPYB) calls for urgent and joint departmental intervention by the KwaZulu-Natal MEC’s for Safety, Education and Social Development, as yet another young life has been lost in the province.
This comes as a Pietermaritzburg high school learner has died after being stabbed, while five other learners have been hospitalised.
It is high time that the MECs develop a comprehensive and targeted plan to address the scourge of violence plaguing KZN’s classrooms and school grounds. Further to this, we call on the various departments to intervene by focussing on the effects that the abuse of drugs and alcohol have in our communities on young learners.
If we do not focus on the environment young people live in and understand their plight and the hardship they face on a daily basis or assist in the homes in which many grow up in, we will lose the battle for the restoration of morals and ethics in developing a values based community – to thuggery, gangsterism and crime.
If we are to simply deploy SAPS officers to schools every time there is an act of criminality on school grounds, we are simply applying a band aid solution which does not address the root socio-economic issues young people suffer through in KZN.
The IFPYB cautions the over-policing of young people to address social ills. We cannot police our issues away. We implore the MECs to intervene through creating partnerships in communities and to include young people in the process.
Young people by no fault of their own, have been side-lined and their priorities shelved for far too long and as a result education in KZN has been severely affected by acts of criminality, violence, sexual abuse and bullying.
Our young lives matter and the IFPYB together with our SADESMO structures will work tirelessly to continue to advocate for the lives of young people and the plight they face.
We believe that we must as young leaders challenge the status quo facing learners in classrooms and schools and ensure that government walks its talk in ensuring the safety of all learners in KZN.
The IFPYB extends our heartfelt and sincerest condolences to the friends, family, the high school and the community at large on the tragic death of the learner and we extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured.
The KZN Provincial Executive together with the Police must address these issues with the urgency it deserves, before more learners lose their lives on the governments watch.
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Contact:
Mthokozisi Nxumalo MP
IFP Youth Brigade Chairperson
072 819 5153
