The key to success in sport in this country is to significantly increase the participation levels of our youth. We need to be creating an environment that is both attractive and challenging to young people.

Young people are at the risk of being lured into criminal activities – be it petty crimes or serious stuff like dealing in drugs, robbery, hi-jacking, rape, etc. - because of inactivity and boredom and a degree of greed. The Department of Public Safety, Security and Liaison encourage youth to fully participate in sport as it can make a difference in their lives.

Sport is a vehicle to rekindle the dignity of people and can be a dynamic agent of change in the social and economic transformation of the society. Sport may also contribute towards the process of moral regeneration in our society.

Sport complements the government’s initiatives in terms of fulfilling its main objectives of fighting unemployment as well as poverty. Successful sportsmen and women have developed to become job givers because of their huge achievements in sport. Government has embarked on the process of continuously building more sporting facilities for previously disadvantaged communities which in turn need to be fully utilized. Such facilities should not turn out to become white elephants - instead they should be symbols of the determination shown by young people.

The winning of the World Cup bid poses another opportunity for South Africans to better their lives and environment. In order for everyone to benefit from this hard fought campaign, we need to have a South Africa that is safe, secure, crime-free and very enthusiastic about sport. Crime destabilises the economic status of the country and scares investors away. There is a need for a paradigm shift amongst the youth to revert from crime and embraces sport as a means of survival.

The Department of Public Safety, Security and Liaison further aims to ensure that young people join Community Policing Forums (CPFs) in their local residential areas to ensure their CPFs are strengthened and well resourced. CPFs are crime prevention by the people for the people and the best way to secure your community’s safety is to play an active role in your local CPF.

Come on! Get moving for a crime-free Free State! Do sport! Do not do crime!

If you want to report a compliment for or a complaint against the South African Police Service, phone toll free: 0800 72 73 74.

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