Pretoria - Drug abuse among South African youth has reached unacceptable levels, says Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
Speaking to more than 7 000 youth at the seventh Youth Entrepreneurship, Moral Regeneration Conference and Careers Expo in Durban on Sunday, Mthethwa urged the youth not to abuse drugs or alcohol but to join the fight against crime, adding that this scourge has prompted law enforcement agencies to intensify the fight against substance abuse.
"It cannot be morally and socially acceptable that we have within society children as young as 10 years being involved in drugs. As law enforcement agencies we have begun intensifying a national drug campaign to fight substance abuse." the minister said.
Drug lords would be police's prime targets in the fight, Mthethwa promised.
The minister also called on ordinary South Africans to help police address the drug, alcohol and crime problems.
"Members of society are expected to form part of efforts to address crime and corruption, by participating in community policing forums and more directly, by reporting crime and corruption to police where they encounter these," he said.
Mthethwa urged young people to join the fight against crime by pursuing a career in policing.
He said part of the ministry's recruitment drive in the coming years was to increase the number of police men and women by 10 percent.
"Part of this recruitment will mean attracting some of the brightest South Africans to form part of our institution. We are convinced that some among you here have the potential to contribute to the beefing of our skills as police, whether it is within our detectives, forensics, paralegal as well as intelligence units," he added.
Mthethwa said crime analysis over the past few months had found that crime was committed by the same people repeatedly and the majority of these offenders were young people.
"It cannot be business as usual when our prisons are filled by vulnerable young people," the minister said.
