Sport the antidote for crime among youth of Khayelitsha

Cape Town – In an effort to keep away young people from crime, the Khayelitsha Community Policing Forum (CPF) had a sports against crime programme.

The programme which is in the form of sporting games, aims to mobilise communities, especially the youth, to reclaim sport as a developmental activity, thereby avoiding destructive activities such as drugs and crime.

Khayelitsha Site B CPF spokesperson Phindile George said it was either communities mobilised young people towards productive programmes or criminals would recruit them to join criminal activities.

“These programmes are very important for our communities in particular the youth as it gives them something to do and keep them motivated in sport and other productive activities other than what they are constantly exposed to on TV (violence, alcohol, substance abuse) which is also happening in front of their eyes in our communities.

“These programmes become a divergence to the youth being recruited by criminal elements in the community. Idle young people are vulnerable to bad influence, but these events give them an opportunity to expose their talents.

“This is why a deliberate approach to prioritise young people should be the new way of doing things by all community stakeholders as young people are the majority affected by drugs, substance abuse and crime,” said George.

George said there are currently few programmes for young people in the area and that more were needed to divert young people’s attention from crime.

“We intend to host these programmes frequently, by mobilising more resources and also working closely with stakeholders to see if we can’t collaborate more to bring them in various communities where they are needed so that no community should stay without youth activities.

“Our aim is to engage ward councillors to prioritise budgets on their operational budgets for youth activities and prioritise building of multi-purpose development centres in our communities wherein young people can get access to the internet, library services, gyms,” said George.

Khayelitsha CPF Cluster chairperson Francina Lukas said the work of the CPF in crime prevention programmes was crucial in showing young people that there were positive alternatives to drug abuse and crime. She said this must be supported and commended.

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