Residence of Lerome South expressing their concerns about crime
Alcohol and substance abuse are major contributors to violence.
Lerome village and surrounding areas is reported to have staggering levels of Gender Based Violence & Femicide (GBVF) incidents. This is according to the number of cases reported by victims during the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. At the core of the scourge, is the dependency on alcohol and substances amongst young people, mainly due to unemployment.
As a response mechanism, the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management conducted a GBVF Community Engagement to address the areas of concern. The community engagement, brings together social partners, with a mutual benefit of creating a functional society, where people feel and become safe in their communities.
The MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng spoke harshly against unregulated and illegal liquor establishments, that lure people and impede their well being.
“We encourage our young people to desist from all acts that enable crime to thrive and in turn damaging their future, such as reckless drinking and the use of drugs.
“We implore you to find constructive ways of dealing with social ills that make life difficult. We are here today, to offer support in various forms so as to demotivate you against destructive habits that claim the lives of many of our young people,” said MEC Morweng while addressing the concerns of the community regarding mushrooming of taverns, undocumented foreign nationals and crime in general.
The Bojanala Platinum District Municipality pledges to establish a network to foster development within the community.
“Let us join hands to work together, as a community and all stakeholders to reflect on the kind of society we want to see and cultivate all resources towards that. Let us work towards sustainable development opportunities for all our people,” said The Acting Executive Mayor, Cllr Mohammed Karani.
Amongst the stakeholders, were all department and entities under the Justice Crime Prevention and Security cluster as well as the Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT) to educate the community on steps they can take against illegal trade of alcohol.
This initiative was coordinated through the District Development Model (DDM), which is directed at intensifying service delivery. The DDM allows collaboration between government institutions in an effective and well coordinated manner to address the needs of communities.
The department will continue to rally stakeholders in all districts to intensify the fight against GBVF, as part of its crime prevention programmes.
—ENDS—
