Cape Town - Cherry-picked quotes from a written response by Cultural Affairs and Sports MEC Anroux Marais, to a question asked in the Legislature about programmes to keep young people from gang activities, have led to a dispute between the DA and the ANC.
DA Cultural Affairs and Sports (DCAS) spokesperson Gillion Bosman on Monday announced that the provincial government would be spending R1.46 billion over the next three financial years to protect at-risk youths from gangs.
He was quoting from a written response to a question he had posed to Marais with regard to what programmes or projects were under way in the province to keep young people out of gang activities.
Bosman said: “Recognising the prevalence of gang activity in the Western Cape, exacerbated by the inadequate resources and personnel of the police, DCAS is taking proactive measures to combat this issue and keep young people away from gangs.
“Combating gang activity requires multi-governmental co-operation. The DA-run Western Cape government remains committed to providing social protective factors and mitigating risk-taking behaviours through these programmes.”
He went on to list the programmes as including youth development programmes, sports and recreational activities, arts and culture programmes, education and skills development, community engagement and outreach.
However, ANC Cultural Affairs and Sports spokesperson Mesuli Kama said Bosman’s statement was deliberately misleading to make it seem like the province was doing more than it was.
In a rebuttal statement Kama said: “That DCAS has allocated R1.46bn over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework is not in dispute.
“However, these funds will be spent on a variety of sports, arts, culture and transfers to municipalities for library services, among others, some of which are not related to, and may have a tangential impact on, gang prevention.”
Kama, who had access to the MEC’s response, also quoted from it and said the MEC had not mentioned any specific Annual Performance Plan (APP) targets related to anti-gang activities.
Kama said the MEC’s response was clear evidence that the department was not spending any funds specifically on gang prevention programmes, and that her department did not have any targets aimed at taking the youth out of crime, drugs and gangs.
“Moreover, there is no evidence that the department’s programmes are targeted at addressing the root causes of gang involvement, such as poverty, inequality, unemployment and lack of opportunities, especially for black youth, including coloureds, Africans and Indians.
“Both youth unemployment as well as youth not in employment, education or training in the Western Cape consist of more than 96% black youth.”
The MEC’s full response to Bosman’s query was: “The department does not have specific APP targets that relate to anti-gang activities, and as a result it is not possible to quantify an exact amount for this purpose.
“However, the DCAS is in a position to provide what funds are allocated to programmes that contribute to curbing social ills such as anti-gang related activities.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za