BuaNews (Tshwane)
28 February 2008
Pretoria — Drama is being used as an outlet for young people to avoid crime and in turn, educate their peers about the nation's fight against crime, Kagiso Metswamere.
Speaking during the media launch of the Stop Crime Drama festival this week, a founding member of Dramatists Against Crime and festival director Jullian Mokoto said the event will be characterised by drama plays, dance and performances, aimed at spreading anti-crime messages.
Thousands of young people from across the North West are expected to arrive in Mafikeng for the festival which was established by a group of young people in Gauteng and later introduced in other provinces.
Since then, it has been taking place annually in the North West, in partnership with the provincial Department of Sport, Arts and Culture; the National Arts Council; ABSA and the Sowetan newspaper.
"We are excited to see the support that we receive because the challenge of crime in our country is a huge one, therefore I think we need to work together to fight the ailment.
"We have all agreed with those in partnership with us that we can bring the message of awareness and be heard by young people in a very interesting ways," he said.
Mr Mokoto said most young people engage themselves in criminal activities because they are not given an accessible platform to express and establish their talent.
"We are of the view that young people have always wanted to be engaged in what they enjoy to do," he said, adding that there were many talented youth who had not had the opportunity to unleash their potential.
"We believe if the youth can be given a platform to do what they love, so many lives and housebreaks can be saved," he said.
Deputy Director General of Sport, Arts and Culture, Ms Irene Mpolweni, said the department was committed to supporting projects which discourage young people from participating in crime.
"We want to support projects such as this festival which give young people alternative to participate in cultural activities rather than crime," she said.
The department has set aside more than R600 000 to make the festival a success, however Ms Mpolweni said the department was an active participant in the project.
"We do not only support the project financially, we are active participants, hence we help them with our staff, include members of the police as well as hold meeting to improve the project further," she said.
Crime in South Africa is a serious challenge, therefore Ms Mpolweni said, adding: "We believe that combined efforts will really assist us to come up with solutions."
North West General Manager of ABSA, Leonardene Classen, said their contribution of R500 000 formed part of South African business' responsibility to help reduce crime in the country.
"We are very concerned about the high rate of crime in the country; therefore we believe that extensive partnership with other companies will play part in reducing crime."
The purpose of ABSA's involvement in the project is to partner in growing South Africa's prosperity by contributing, through responsible citizenship, to sustainable community development, she said
Ms Classen said particularly partnerships between Non-Governmental Organisations, businesses and government could help unearth hidden talents in the country.
Sowetan representative, Victor Mecoamere told BuaNews that supporting the project is seen as an effective way of building the nation.
"Giving young people an opportunity to raise awareness around crime in their own interesting way will actually assist us because young people always want to be engaged in things that they love the most," he said.
Mr Mecoamere said the Sowetan would create space in the newspaper to cover all the projects involving the development of the community.
"At Sowetan, we are of the view that collaborative efforts will make a valuable difference to the lives of individuals, communities and to our nations," he said.
The festival will include a series of events such as auditions of participants in cultural activities. In the process, talented youth will be identified and singled out for mentoring.
Also as part of the programme, the police will lead a march against crime on 27 March.
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