Soweto youth trapped in crime cycle

Activist bemoans drug addiction

Substance abuse and the vicious cycle of crime are some of the challenges affecting the youth of Gauteng.

These are just some of the challenges they face, according to Themba Phanyana, the head of the Soweto East policing cluster who deals with youth issues.

The 27-year-old said it was difficult to celebrate Youth Month when his peers have fallen prey to the scourge of substance abuse.

Phanyana said he decided to assume a proactive role in helping those who found themselves in a downward spiral.

“In the five years that I have spent on the youth desk, I found that there is a big challenge of substance abuse among the youth.

“Other things include lack of access to opportunities and the youth spending their primes behind bars.”

He said he was saddened to see young people engaged in illegal activities that didn’t help their lives now and in future.

“This was something I wanted to do for the community while I was studying civil engineering. After college I saw that I was getting more interested and I focused on it to see what would happen.”

Phanyana has discovered that criminal records contributed to the high unemployment rate in his community.

“You find that they get arrested while in their late teens or early 20s. They serve time of anything between six months to maybe 10 years, and at that point they have criminal records.

They can’t get jobs because of their records and they fall back into the cycle of crime.”

He said the government needed to work harder on formulating programmes that help assist young people who have been caught on the wrong side of the law.

“We try to encourage the youth to start small businesses so that they don’t fall into the same trap that got them arrested, and try to take control of their future.”

Phanyana said the youth desk has exposed him to various programmes that have prompted him to acquire different perspectives that entail multilateral approaches to resolving issues.

“Our mandate is to work with all the organisations around our community such as anti-drug organisations and NGOs that deal with sports and recreation.”