City puts safety first for Mzimhlophe youths

 

Young people from across Mzimhlophe township in Soweto spent a day learning how to save lives and protect property from their peers based at the Emergency Management Services and the Johannesburg Metro Police Service.

 

This was part of the Public Safety Youth Focal Point programme run  by the City’s Department of Public Safety in collaboration with various stakeholders, including the Department of Education, Department of Transport and the South African Police Service. 

 

The programme focuses on general safety aspects affecting young people in the City, with emphasis on youth in schools and unemployed youth. The youth came in numbers to get tips about all safety aspects at the mayor’s park on the 26 of September 2014.

 

The youngsters had a fair share of safety tips that included substance abuse awareness, by-law compliance, road safety and career opportunities within Public Safety.

 

This was one of the continuous youth engagements that the public safety  department has held. More sessions are planned for other regions of the city in an effort to eradicate drug and alcohol abuse amongst youth.

 

The public safety officials engaged with the youth on a number of safety aspects, the most interesting being first aid assistance and the by-laws.

 

According to Tebogo Morake from Youth development in the office of the chief of police (JMPD), the programme seeks to promote substance abuse awareness, career awareness, bylaw awareness and Emergency Management, as a way of ensuring Public Safety within the City of Joburg. The programme is also In line with the department’s vision of building a City where life, property and lifestyle are safe and secure, so that residents and businesses can live and operate free from crime, threats to public safety, personal emergencies and disasters