admin
Obey Sibanda Features Reporter
AT only 17, Kabelo Ncube of Makokoba suburb in Bulawayo is already facing a murder charge.
The teenager, together with three other juveniles from the same suburb, is languishing in remand prison for the alleged gruesome murder of a 17-year-old boy.
They were fighting over a girl.
Kabelo, (he cannot be mentioned by his real name because he is a minor), and his three colleagues ambushed their victim while coming from his friend’s house in the same area. They stabbed him under the left breast, which led to excessive bleeding resulting in death.
Juvenile delinquency cases are on the rise in the country and Kabelo’s is one of them.
Research by law-enforcement agents and sociologists reveal that most such criminal-minded youths grew up in broken families or in homes where crime is treated as a pastime.
Such youths often lack proper parental supervision and care.
Kabelo’s mother moved to South Africa a decade ago soon after her husband was incarcerated for peddling drugs in the streets of Makokoba. She regrets the time she spent in South Africa doing odd jobs while trying to fend for her children. “Each time I think of visiting my child in prison it’s with a heavy heart. I feel the eyes of everyone in our neighborhood will be on me, accusing me of having been an inadequate mother. They see failure in me. I regret the years I wasted in South Africa trying to play bread-winner in the absence of my husband who is serving his sentence at Khami Prison,” lamented Kabelo’s mother disconsolately.
She feels her son could have been a different person if she had been there for him during the critical stages of his growing.
The middle-aged woman is not alone in facing such a challenge in child raising.
Many families disintegrated at the height of the economic meltdown between 2004 and 2007. Breadwinners emigrated to different parts of the world in search of greener pastures, leaving their families under the care of relatives.
A local psychologist, Brian Mpofu said children brought up without proper parental guidance or in broken homes are more likely to lead a criminal life than their counterparts who live with both biological parents.
“Most of the juveniles who show delinquent behaviour of any form belong to families that could not give a firm foundation to the children. Broken families, single parent families, frequent parents fight, criminal parents or psychological problems in parents can be the most important reason behind juvenile delinquency,” said Mpofu.
An addition to that list is children with both parents abroad.
Mpofu attributed some of the behavioural problems in children who belong to single parent families to lack of adequate time with parents.
“This is so because most single parents lack economic security,” he explained.
Research in crime and delinquency by Hope for a Child in Christ (HOCIC) indicate that the most dependable indicator of violence and crime in a community among juveniles is the proportion of fatherless families.
Fathers typically offer economic stability, a role model for the boy child, greater household security and reduced stress for mothers, according to HOCIC.
HOCIC programmes officer, Nhlonipho Gatyeni, said this is especially true for families with adolescent boys, the most crime-prone cohort. Children from single-parent families, he argued, are more prone to use drugs, be gang members, be expelled from school and become juvenile murderers than children from two natural parent families.
Single parenting inevitably reduces the amount of time a child interacts with someone who is attentive to its needs, including the provision of moral guidance and discipline, said Gatyeni.
“Children growing up without parental supervision skip crucial stages in life in a bid to assume the role of mothers and fathers and are in the process exposed into anti-social activities.
“They have the role of taking care of other siblings. Girls due to stress are driven into prostitution while boys into substance abuse and crime in a desperate way to sustain their livelihoods,” said Gatyeni.
He said children with poor economic background could become violent out of frustration that their lives are more difficult than their peers.
“At times they do so as a way of venting out their anger because the society has turned a blind eye on them and no one dares to listen to their plight. Because of this, such children are eager to improve their status and end up frequently using negative paths,” he pointed out.
He highlighted that regardless of class and creed, every child can fall into delinquency pointing out that rich children are not immune to criminal activities. “Children with rich parents living abroad are exposed into lavish lifestyle. They easily access drugs and organise unruly teenage nude parties termed vuzu parties. They are exposed to unlimited technology and they tend to neglect the control panels. Also children who are used to getting their way could develop a sense of entitlement and lash out when parents stop meeting their demands,” he said.
Traditional leaders are concerned about the upsurge in child related crimes caused by the inopportune exodus of parents to other countries.
Chief Mtshana Khumalo of Bubi district said parents leaving their children behind while going abroad in search of better lives are doing more harm than good.
“Children mustn’t be left in the custody of another child or with their grandmothers. They need a parent for guidance and a shoulder to lean on. Despite their good intentions to earn a living and secure a brighter future for their children, parents who desert their offspring are doing harm. The world is full of obstacles that are difficult for a child to evade on his or her own,” said Chief Khumalo.
The traditional leader emphasised the importance of togetherness in families as the corner stone of discipline and good behavior.
He said the way a child turns out in later life is determined mainly by the day to day decisions made by the parents.
“In an African set-up a family is regarded as the basic socialisation agency for children. Children learn basic concepts about good and bad from their parents who teach them cultural values and norms of society. Parents can make or break the future of their children,” he said.
A number of parents lamented the upsurge of child related crimes. They expressed disgust on the country’s lawmakers and child activists for seemingly giving children a “free play.”
“Giving a child too much power has contributed immensely to the delinquent behaviour and the demise of our culture. Parents and the community are no longer disciplining children in fear of violating their so-called “child rights”. If they fail to respect such rights parents could rot in jail,” said Nomagugu Mlotshwa of Tsholotsho.
She, however, pointed out that when these children are arrested by police for their misconduct they are later released into the custody of their guardians without punishment.
Such delinquent children are viewed as heroes by their peers at schools thus influencing other like-minded kids into joining their camp, explained Mlotshwa.
Another parent from Nkayi, Sibangani Dladla, said: “The lawmakers have dismally failed our children and throwing our culture into the abyss. A law that directly deals with children delinquencies must be implemented. Pregnant girls are now re-admitted in school after giving birth trivialising our culture that abolishes sex before marriage.
“School authorities are even allowing children to have condoms in their bags. That’s in a way legalising and encouraging sex at school”.
Chief Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe said there is a system of dealing with juveniles who are found on the wrong side of the law that is meant to re-integrate them into society as responsible children.
“One of the ways of dealing with juvenile offenders is to take them to pretrial diversion where they will be tried, counselled and punished. This punishment is equivalent to community service performed by adult offenders and the system has produced positive results,” said Guvamombe.
Children blame local authorities for neglecting recreational facilities as a vehicle for their constant involvement in criminal activities.
“If there are no recreation facilities for the youth the alternative is sex and drug abuse. We have ample time to do nothing and we end up indulging in crime because our minds are not positively occupied,” said Thabani Mpofu.
At a recent workshop chiefs in Matabeleland North resolved to consult parliamentarians and influence them to review the banning of corporal punishment in schools. They blamed the lack of corporal punishment for breeding wayward behaviour among youths.
In January, a High Court judge ruled that corporal punishment on juvenile offenders was unconstitutional. The ruling was interpretted to mean that parents and teachers were banned from caning their children as well.
However, the Constitutional Court ruled two weeks ago that, while a determination on the legality of corporal punishment for young convicts was still to be made, teachers and parents could cane children as a way to disciplining them.
This is the confusion that chiefs sought to clarify with MPs.
Police have on many occasions arrested pupils from various schools in Bulawayo for drinking beer and substance abuse.
One group was arrested at Centenary Park while scores of juveniles were also arrested for organising vuzu parties where they engage in sexual activities and drug abuse inflaming a high incidence of HIV/Aids.
A 16-year old boy from Pumula South suburb was arrested for allegedly murdering his aunt in cold blood in a dispute over a cell phone which contained pornographic material.
Police are on record urging pupils to refrain from criminal activities. After rounding up a gang of four sixth form Foundation College pupils in connection with a murder in Nkulumane, Bulawayo Police spokesperson, Inspector Precious Simango advised parents to closely monitor activities of their children.
“I strongly urge parents to closely monitor their children’s activities. At a time they are supposed to be preparing for their examinations, they are busy partying and getting drunk,” she said.
Online Reporter