The Safer South Africa Foundation (SSAF) celebrated the graduation of 90 learners who successfully completed its flagship crime-prevention initiative, the Communities and Justice Programme (CJP) in Virginia.
“Learners of the Virginia Secondary School, aged between 14 and 18 years, were empowered to take ownership of preventing and fighting crime in conjunction with the various arms of the criminal justice system such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), correctional services, and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC),” says Pitso Mereko, provincial co-ordinator for the SSAF.
The graduation took place on 22 November.
Mereko says experiential learning is key to the programme. The learners went on excursions to various institutions within the criminal justice cluster. General education and training learners in Gr. 8 and Gr. 9 visited the Virginia Magistrates’ Court and Odendaalsrus Remand Detention Centre, while the Gr. 10 and Gr. 11 learners visited the Welkom Magistrates’ Court and Virginia Correctional Services Centre.
During these visits the learners participated in moot court sessions while interacting with magistrates, prosecutors, stenographers, and other court officials in their journey to understand court processes.
Mereko says their understanding of the machinations of the criminal justice system was further enhanced during the remand and correctional services centre excursions, where they witnessed the stark realities of incarceration.
“Further interactions with inmates drove home the harsh consequences of crime no matter how light or severe the transgressions were perceived to be by the learners,” says Mereko.
Part of the CJP includes a financial literacy module taught by representatives of the Banking Association South Africa, who taught them the foundations of money management, which will stand them in good stead when trying to break the poverty cycle without resorting to criminality.
In doing all this, the CJP is an effective crime prevention programme that bridges the gap between communities and the criminal justice system. It is a platform for youths to have face-to-face interactions with law-enforcement practitioners to improve relationships and foster trust and confidence of communities in the criminal justice system.
The CJP promotes constitutionalism and human rights by improving the understanding of individual rights and obligations, as well as to help the youth realise that crime does not pay.
The Virginia Secondary School’s principal, Monenese Phakane, expressed her approval of the CJP.
“I am beyond impressed with the transformation I have seen in these learners since participating in the programme. Even those children who were known as habitual trouble makers have demonstrated a turn in behaviour and it is so encouraging to see,” she said.
Mereko added that the CJP was only made possible through the support and participation of the various partners, including the Department of Basic Education.
Since its inception ten years ago, over 30 000 learners have participated nationwide.
