Government is to put more resources into the Moral Regeneration Campaign to deal with social crime and children in conflict with the law.
This was decided at the recent July Cabinet Lekgotla.
"There will be an aggressive campaign to mobilize society, especially parents, to take responsibility for the upbringing of children to instill in them clean moral scrupples," said Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Monday.
He said the issue of young people and violence was raised at the July Lekgotla, among other things.
And the matter had also become topical in recent times because of some of the violent attacks young people mount against other youth, teachers and some members of society.
The minister cited the recent incident where a learner was attacked and killed by another pupil with a sword at the Nic Diederichs Technical High School in Krugersdorp.
The minister said there was a need for more interaction in communities to change mindsets so that the good moral principles that existed in the past can be revived. Some of the resources will go into doing this.
By the end of May there were 3 478 children in detention at various centres in the country.
The figure includes children who are awaiting trial at the places of safety run by the Department of Social Development (1 669) and at Correctional Services facilities (820). Children already sentenced at correctional facilities stand at 889.
The top six crimes committed by the children are murder, rape, serious and violent assault, robbery aggravated, house breaking and theft.
There are 80 children who are serving sentences for murder. Five of them are girls.
The minister said a further 115 boys were serving sentences for rape.
But, there are 130 other children awaiting trial who will face charges of murder. Four of them are girls. One hundred and seventy-eight (178) boys will face charges of rape.
Also addressing the media, Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, Johnny de Lange said: "Moral Regeneration is at a low and we need to bring this up.
"We have to move with these issues. We have to adopt and implement the programme to have an impact down the line."
One of the recommendations of a study undertaken by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation is that developmental crime prevention should be enhanced.
Government in 2006 commissioned the CSVR to conduct a study on the violent nature of crime in South Africa. The full report on the study will be released at the end of the year.
The preliminary findings recommend interventions targeted at high risk groups such as families and single mothers in low income communities to help with parenting practices.
Child care workers are also recommended to help increase cognitive and social abilities of under-privileged children.
A further recommendation is the preparation of and development of emotional skills of disadvantaged children in primary schools. – BuaNews
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
