The Midrand police’s social crime prevention desk together with other stakeholders held a safety talk at Home Fountain Combined School in Halfway House.
The police were accompanied by gender-based violence brigades, Victim Empowerment Counsel (VEC), Church of Scientology SA and South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) Midrand.
The talk was conducted on February 10 from 11:00–12:00 before addressing employers at National Credit Regulator in Randjespark.
The organisations addressed about 250 high school learners about the effects of drugs and bullying.
School principal Sihlanganiso Khumalo said the school asked for the drug awareness talk in a bid to educate learners and arranged with the Midrand police, who then invited the other stakeholders.
He said the learners were important to the school and urged them to grasp the message and apply it in their day-to-day life.
“Our ethos is to seek to provide quality Christian education. And our goal is to nurture young people who will be drug-free, efficient and effective in growing the economy. So, a leaner that we want to produce to be useful to the community and the nation as whole,” said Khumalo.
Acting station spokesperson Sergeant Angelina Selowa said, “During the address, the police conducted a school safety talk addressing substance abuse and bullying. We addressed 250 learners and distributed 200 pamphlets.”
Community affairs director at the Church of Scientology Alice Meiring said they have been working with the Midrand police on different humanitarian programmes for the past three years. “The centrepiece of the anti-drug lecture was the Truth About Drugs booklet, which provides basic information about the most commonly used drugs, their harmful effects on the mind and the body. The purpose of this lecture was to enable the youth to make their own educated decision on whether to use drugs or not,” said Meiring.
Sanca Midrand Ke Moja coordinator Andisani Makhadi said, “The reason we extend our awareness campaigns in workplaces, is because we want to target young adults who are working. Reason being a person never escapes the danger of substance abuse as long as they are exposed to it.”
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