MEC issues stern warning to ill-disciplined youth

KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza has issued a stern warning to ill-disciplined youth to change their behaviour or face the consequences.

Khoza said disrespectful young people involved in substance abuse normally end up with a bleak future.

Addressing the Boys Assembly at Esicabazini Youth Academy in uMhlabuyalingana on Friday, Khoza said young people should avoid anything that threatens their future.

The Boys Assembly is an initiative of the Department of Social Development in which older men share their experiences with younger men and give boys tips on how to evade damaging pitfalls in their lives, and adopt true values.

Khoza said the country was besieged by violent incidents involving boys, and the situation was very worrying.

‘The anger we see in our communities and schools involving young boys needs our collective attention before it gets out of control.

‘We have observed that the poor conduct of some boys in our schools, who become bullies and aggressive towards other pupils and teachers, is mostly caused by drug abuse,’ she said.

‘A further problem reported by social workers who visit schools is the high number of children growing up in families where strong values are absent,’ said Khoza.

She said shaping boys to become better men should begin at an early age, and emphasised that her department forged a relationship with traditional leaders, churches and traditional healers because they believed it was everyone’s responsibility to contribute.

‘We want the Boys Assembly to continue in different clans where Izinduna and Amakhosi regularly engage with boys.

Decaying moral fibre

‘There is something horribly wrong with the moral fibre of our society and the way we as parents and society go about bringing up our children.

‘As a society, we have a responsibility to teach our boys that they don’t need to be violent to be regarded as men,’ she said.

‘Gender-based violence thrives among men with low self-esteem. This violence against our women and girls needs to come to an end now.

‘The incidences of abuse, rape and murder of women and children in our communities go against the spirit of ubuntu, which articulates important values such as respect, human dignity, compassion, solidarity and consensus among people,’ Khoza added, emphasising that patriarchy was not part of African culture.

‘Patriarchy manifests itself in the way men want to control women. We don’t want to raise boys with this kind of thinking because patriarchy is a catalyst for gender-based violence and discrimination.

‘The essential values we as parents and society should instil in our boys are respect, honesty, responsibility, self-control and empathy.

‘It’s essential for boys to treat others the way they want to be treated,’ Khoza said.