Youth talk about gangsterism
KwaThema - As part of the fight against substance abuse and gangsterism the KwaThema Local Drug Action Committee, in partnership with the Central Methodist Church, Social Development and other stakeholders, held an open dialogue last Friday.
The dialogue took place at the Methodist Church where the youth were also in attendance as well as members of various gangs in the community.
Stakeholders listened to the youth as they explained how they are recruited and pressured to be members of gangs leading to abusing substances and partaking in crime.
Thabang Xaba, one of the stakeholders says “the many incidents that have been happening in Bulithando Park and surrounding areas has pushed us as stakeholders of the community to take a stand and have an open dialogue with our youth.
“Schools in our community are experiencing an increase in gangsterism once again; only this time it’s rife, even in primary schools.
“Learners are recruited to join groups such as Raf3, 28, 26, and 27, which are all gangs that exist in prison,” says Xaba.
What worries the community is that the expectations are high to belong to such gangs and the urge to be noticed and feared within the gang forces members to continuously try to prove themselves by doing hardcore crimes.
During the dialogue gang leaders were very open to talking about and share their experiences and reasons for joining gangs.
“We do these dialogues not to provoke anger but to understand where the root of the problem comes from,” says Xaba, adding “For us as a community to win we need to partner with those who are promoting what we are trying to fight against.
“We all see the damage that crime, substance abuse and gangs have done in our community, so moving forward we need to come up with implementable solutions,”adds Xaba.
