Lemao, Metro police, Emergency Medical Services and Midrand police spoke to pupils at the college about winter safety, road safety and substance abuse. Lemao said, “As young people it is your mandate to ensure safety as home and at school. For South Africa to have a safe economy we need to ensure that the country is safe. The police and emergency services will keep saving lives and property.”
He said the city council was embarking on a winter safety campaign in a bid to reduce the tragedy of people dying in fires. Lemao said the city council would continue to teach communities what to do to be safe, and not only rely on professionals. He said it was important to address the youth on safety as June was youth month. The safety campaign’s theme is Youth celebrating 20 years of freedom and democracy – Together contributing towards a united and prosperous South Africa.
“At the beginning of June the department did a door to door campaign in Alexandra,” said Lemao. “Out of every five houses we visited, three of them had a safety gadget or solar lights.”
In a bid to make pupils understand the importance of safety he stated, “If safety is a joke to you, then death will be the punchline.”
He asked pupils to report drug peddlers to police so that law enforcers could fight drug abuse in schools and the community. “Substance abuse leads to a high school dropout rate and high pregnancy in schoolgirls.”
He added that the city council introduced Jozi Safety in May to ensure that poor communities have safe and affordable winter kits. The kit includes a smoke detector, solar light and a burn kit.
Emergency services divisional chief, Synock Matobako said, “One of the City of Joburg’s top 10 priorities is a safer city. Winter and roads safety is a collective effort, let us ensure that our communities are safe.”
He added, “This youth month choose safety as a priority and be its ambassadors.”
