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"There is no negotiating the safety of our children at schools"

The Programme Director
Comrade N Mokonyane, MEC for Safety, Security & Liaison
Our Partners Against Crime, represented by Comrade Allan Mckenzie
Chief Executive Office of GDE, Comrade Mallele Petje
Members of the Community, educators, learners & all

I extend my greetings to you.

In his opening address, comrade Mallele has already spoken of the inter-linkage between violence in schools and what happens in the broader society as historically specific problems facing us. True enough the restructured Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is now better positioned to respond to the challenges facing it in its quest for the realisation of its broader vision. A new ethos has been forged and now, more than ever, the process of transformation is well on track. However, it is perhaps pertinent, that I share with you a few words with regard to the steps taken by government as a whole and the GDE in particular to try and address the problems of youth violence as manifested both in schools and in the society.

Guided by President Thabo Mbeki's vision for targeted, measurable, and interdepartmental strategies designed to address issues of national priority, the Department of Education, the Secretariat for Safety and Security and the National Youth Commission, have undertaken a joint developmental process to come up with an intervention strategy to tackle youth violence in schools. This joint exercise is aimed at producing the kind of multi-departmental strategy that would build on social crime prevention attempts articulated in the National Crime Prevention Strategy (1996) and the White Paper on Safety and Security (1998). Minister Steve Tshwete, for his part, affirmed his commitment to crime reduction in this area and so, one would convincingly argue, the case for co-operative government is clearly made.

In our data-driven process of systematically dealing with youth violence, it has initially been established that there was a need to explore the underlying causes of youth violence in South African schools. The conclusion arrived at was that violence among our youth reflected the interface of a social system that frames violent pathways on the one hand, and the "tools" and "qualities" of young people on the other. Therefore it became imperative that, in the Joint Framework Document initiated by the Youth Commission, the Secretariat for Safety and Security and the Department of Education, as stated earlier on, emphasis is laid on the short, medium and long-term intervention and strategic plans which should be developed and implemented. Of course consideration of existing initiatives and gaps at the three levels of government would be made. All along, intervention principles would be adhered to so as to ensure that the process is a well-calculated and careful one instead of one that is haphazardly reactive to the intervening crises.

Once again this year, it became evident in the President's speech at the opening of the National Assembly that the integrative approach to matters of governance and service delivery is central. What that means is that even those departments that are customarily not associated with crime prevention would be roped in. Amongst them are welfare, sports and recreation, health, economic development and arts and culture. While each would be contributing in a particular way, their strategies would be streamlined within the core business functions of the public sector, which is grounded on the "Batho Pele" principles.

To give a bird's eye view of what the Gauteng Department of Education has done so far, one must acknowledge the importance of the campaigns upon which it has embarked. From the Policy Reserve Fund, money to the tune of R200,000 per district was allocated for advocacy campaigns. The engagement of service providers to conduct workshops on child abuse, gangsterism, and HIV/AIDS amongst other issues has been seen to be of critical importance. In addition, a further R1 000,00 allocated to individual schools to run their own advocacy campaigns, has been advanced to them. That has been over and above the R3 000,00 allocated to the historically disadvantaged schools to install alarms, burglar proofs and other safety devices that are needed. This, I think, serves to underscore the seriousness with which the issue of violence in schools is viewed.

Together with our partners, amongst whom we should count Business Against Crime, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Both Sides of the Story, and Sport for Peace, we have established the "Tiisa Thuto" project, which involves forty schools. This project educates pupils about the unacceptable nature of violence through activities such as sports and drama. In the coming financial year about eighteen schools in Alexandra will be inducted into the project and it is hoped schools in that area will set the trend for a peaceful and non-violent process of social transformation.

In conclusion, I must say that with the intervention programmes such as the Education Action Zones (EAZ), Secondary Schools Intervention programmes, and Schools of Focussed Learning, I am optimistic that the objectives set out in our Strategic Plan are well within reach. That becomes more plausible especially with the support of the Social Plan, which, I must argue, will create precisely the kind of conditions necessary for quality education to take place. Until we produce in our public schools students equipped with skills in gateway subjects such as Maths, Science, Business and Commerce, we will have no option but to push harder. Until the demographic and gender representations of students in the fields such as engineering, technology, medicine, sciences and other professions are addressed, we will have no choice but to keep on fine-tuning our system to do better. Let us therefore, declare in this launch, that our war against all forms of violence is an integral part of our transformation agenda.

Thank you.

Issued by Education, Gauteng

3 March 2001