High levels of truancy was the main driving force behind a Tafelsig police initiative launched in partnership with Cape Flats YMCA.
Sector commander for one of the three Tafelsig police sectors, Capt Ian Williams, says when the three new sector commanders were appointed earlier this year, the high levels of drop-outs, especially among boys, prompted them to seek assistance from the lcoal YMCA.
“We wanted to align to programmes they already had on offer,” he says.
Named the Tafelsig programme “as it remains a work in progress”, the initiative kicked off with 21 boys, aged 14 to 19. The programme ran over the course of June and July with a graduation ceremony held at the Tafelsig Library on Wednesday 17 August. Seventeen boys completed the course.
But this is just the first phase, says YMCA facilitator, Tebogo Votyeka. While phase one concentrated on positive masculinity, drug awareness and promoting the return to school, phase two will focus on the implementation of vocational training and getting some of the boys back to classes.
The third phase will involve preparing participants to be ambassadors to draw their peers to complete the same programme.
Votyeka says a key element of the first phase was to speak to real issues facing these youths.
Nathaneal Willis (17), who dropped out of Grade 10 last year, says the programme has inspired him by changing his mindset.
“It has changed my mind about just sitting at home. It showed me that not going to school does not have a benefit for me, it will end with me being dragged into gangs and drugs, and that is not my lifestyle. I would love to go back to school because there is no future in sitting at home,” he says.
He believes the programme will be beneficial for his peers.
Votyeka says, when children are not in school and sitting on corners, “it is easy for them to end up getting into all kind of trouble”.
He adds that the culture at school leads to unhealthy relationships with masculinity, another aspect the initiative aims to tackle.
In the bathroom, the boys will encourage each other to do the wrong things, he says.
For the boys, the reason for dropping out is not as simple as no longer wanting to attend school. For a group of participants, a case of mistaken identity, living in “enemy” territory or wrongful affiliation to gangs prompted their removal from schools.
Denzil Sampson, Mitchell’s Plain community policing forum (CPF) assistant treasurer, who spoke at the event, encouraged parents to show more support for their children. “I am so appreciative of everyone involved in getting the youth involved in a programme. Getting them educated about their environment and society and life as a whole,” he says.
“You are important and the role you play in your community and your family. We are here for you and thankful you have completed this course and made effort to attend.”
Williams says parents were approached for consent after their children were identified through the assistance of the Tafelsig East, Tafelsig West and Hyde Park forums.
“We want to help them realise their purpose and what they can do with their lives as young men in the community.
This is not just for now, it is a year-long journey we will travel with them,” says Votyeka.
Tafelsig is a national crime hotspot, says Williams, and with a recent spike in visible gang-related graffiti, the programme is part of their proactive policing approach.
“As police, we cannot just be reactive in policing crime,” he says.
