Atteridgeville SAPS launches youth programme

Atteridgeville SAPS recently launched an empowerment programme for young people in light of what it describes as crimes affecting the youth,

The Atteridgeville youth empowerment programme (Ayep) was launched at the Mbolekwa Hall, led by Major General Thokozani Mathonsi.

Attendees included Atteridgeville station commander, Brigadier Moeti Rapitsi, members of the Atteridgeville CPF, the GBV Brigade, SAPS youth desk, Old Mutual, and Tshwane officials.

“We as the police have a mandate to fight crime but this fight is not ours alone. We need the community to play its part in that fight if we are going to win,” Mathonsi said during his address.

Police said this was a different approach to crime prevention, as they are working hand-in-hand with the community.

Entities involved in the effort include Business Against Crime, retail outlets, the banking sector, Prasa, and the PSL.

“We wanted this programme to target young people, because if we don’t have young people then we don’t have a future. They are the ones that need to take this country forward,” said Mathonsi.

Rapitsi welcomed the police’s decision to launch the programme in Atteridgeville and considered it a privilege to be part of it. He also pointed out the need for such programmes to prevent crime, which he said has infected a lot of young people in Atteridgeville.

Through the Ayep programme, 30 ambassadors received certification and gifts. The organisers hoped the example set by the ambassadors would spread to their peers.

“We want to instil a sense of social responsibility and resilience. That’s where the faith-based organisations come in as we need their help in instilling these values. We want to create a change from the inside, because filling up prisons does not work. We want young people to see R50 lying on the ground and have the integrity to say “this is not mine,” said Mathonsi.

The programme aims to address four key areas – personal development, physical well-being, social responsibility and economic empowerment by rolling out initiatives designed to develop leadership capacity, moral regeneration, poverty eradication, youth literacy and numeracy, project management, health, mental health and GBV awareness.

Different sectors of the community were called upon to participate in the venture through their resources. Mathonsi stated this did not always have to be money, but could be whatever a sector could provide, be it work space, supplies, assistance to youth and so forth.

The project will be rolled out over six months and then evaluated.

Residents interested in participating or assisting are encouraged to contact the Atteridgeville police.

“We want to put Atteridgeville on the map, not just locally but internationally. I’m originally from KZN and when you think about Durban, you think about the Comrades Marathon, tourism, beaches – we want to create a positive perception of what the world thinks about Atteridgeville,” Mathonsi concluded.

Watch the full address here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=292826800138563&id=100000178359523&mibextid=qC1gEa

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