With the majority of B2K, 666 and Maroma gang recruits being learners from Bloemfontein townships, Tsoseletso High School embarked on an Anti-Drug and Gangsterism Campaign for its learners on Wednesday.
Former learner of the school, Paseka Motlhacwi, warned learners about the importance of choosing good friends and making sound decisions in one’s youth. “My teachers used to always tell me to observe the people I have in my life, consider the implications of every action I take and always be aware of my surrounding and situations I find myself in. I only considered these utterances when I found myself in jail for being an accessory to a crime,” he says.
Motlhacwi served nine years in jail for being an accessory crime committed with friends and is now out on parole. He advised attending learners to focus on using education as a means to attaining success rather than getting caught up in the ensuing allures of crime.
The campaign relied heavily on the use of arts as a medium to inform and engage audiences. Viewers were treated to entertaining plays, one by the learners who in a short, Sarafina-like play, which showed the youth of today fighting drugs and gangsterism as the youth of 1976 fought Apartheid. The underlying message of the composition for the pupils was “If we could beat Apartheid, then we can beat drugs and gangsterism in our schools.”
In the second play, inmates from Grootvlei Correctional facility took the stage to give learners a chilling yet an honest account of life behind bars.
The seasoned prisoners advised the audience not to ever consider joining gangs, using drugs or getting involved in petty or hard crimes. “In jail, there are no B2Ks, 666 and Maroma gangs. Only number gangs and life is very hard. Once you are in, it’s very hard to get out and being in jail, does not exempt you from crime. You are still vulnerable to being sexually assaulted or in some cases, being killed. So the best thing to do is to altogether avoid a situation where you end up in jail.”
The campaign was held at the Bloemanda school, with its staff and hundreds of learners in attendance. Among those that were in attendance at the event meant to curb gangster related activities and substance abuse among scholars included youth orientated non-profit organization, LoveLife as well as the department of education, a representative of the South African Police Services.
Pulane Choane- BloemfonteinCourant
