DELINQUENCY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27055, 2 June 1953, Page 6

DELINQUENCY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Problem Of Native Children

(From a Reuter Correspondent.) JOHANNESBURG.

About 120,000 African children of school-going age, all of them potential if not actual juvenile delinquents, are idling away their days in the street! or slouching aimlessly about the locations of Johnnesburg and the Witwatersrand. They are known a*

Tsotsis. More than half these potential lawbreakers loaf about the city, about 10,000 at the east Rand town of Springs, 9000 each at Germiston and Benoni, and about 6000 at Krugersdorp.

About 60,000 of them are eager to be educated, but are kept hanging about, waiting for the schools to find places for them, in the company of the other 60,000 who will not have school at any price. These figures are taken from a thesis on native juvenile delinquency on the Witwatersrand by Mr W. W. JKieser, head of Diepkloof Reformatory. The thesis won for Mr Kieser the degree of Master of Education from Potchefstroom University. Mr Kieser found that the facilities for African education on the Witwatersrand are so inadequate that opportunity for schooling exists for only a third of the children. The problem has assumed greater urgency and proportions than that of African housing. “While the parents work, the children are left to themselves to do as they will. There is no better method of breeding or encouraging delinquency than to allow children to spend their time in idleness, without supervision and discipline, under slum conditions,” says Mr Kieser.

These idle youngsters could not become part of the normal labour force as a large number of them were not willing to work. Those who were, could not compete with adult Africans for the limited number of vacancies. Many of these children do casual work, like selling newspapers or carrying parcels, but are not prepared to do anything more arduous. The situation is extremely urgent. Each day sees the number of juvenile delinquents added to. Statistical research among a group of 400 youthful lawbreakers committed to Diepklooi revealed that 29 per cent, had never been to school, 13.5 per cent, of them had only passed their sub B standard. 18 per cent, standard 1 and 13 per cent, standard 11. From standard In (8 per cent.) there was a falling off m the incidence of lawbreaking matriculation standard (5 per cent.).