ABSTRACT
Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research 250 Safer City Program 250 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s South-South Project 251 Initiatives from Other Stakeholders 251
Causes of Youth Crime 251 Economic Situation 252 Social Factors 252 Family Structures 252 Legacy of Apartheid 253 Experience of Victimization 253
Extent of Youth Crime in Youth Africa 253 A Critique of the Current Approach in South Africa 254
Recommendations 256 Youth Crime Prevention Strategy 256
The initiative to develop a National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) in South Africa began in early February 1995 in response to former President Mandela’s plea to parliament, in which he raised concerns about crime. Part of this response was the development of the South African Police Service (SAPS, 1995) “Community Safety Plan,” a package of short-term policing measures aimed at tackling the priority crimes in the country. In May 1995, an interdepartmental strategy team, composed largely of civilian officials, began the process of drafting a long-term Crime Prevention Strategy, which would become known as the NCPS. The intention was that the long-term strategy would tackle the root causes of crime, in parallel to the Police’s Community Safety Plan, which would deliver more effective responses to crimes that had already been committed or planned. The NCPS was approved by the cabinet in May 1996, and launched in the final days of the Government of National Unity. Thirteen years later the last review was done in 1998, the NCPS has not been amended or reviewed, whereas various forms of crimes such as automated teller machine bombings, police killings, police brutality, and youth crime have now taken South Africa by storm. This chapter seeks to establish the need to develop a Youth Crime Prevention Strategy that will focus on youth crime. A literature study was used as the baseline to see if there are gaps in the youth crime prevention knowledge. Conclusions reached in this regard show that not much has been done because the NCPS was approved by the cabinet in 1996.
