​The Gauteng Department of Social Development has deployed 500 Ke Moja Coaches to assist with substance abuse awareness programmes in schools following alleged suicides of over 40 learners in the province since the beginning of the 2023 academic year.
Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane has welcomed the deployment and reiterated that it will deal with addressing the root causes of such actions.
In a statement, MEC Chiloane said suicide was a bleak reality and one of the leading causes of death among young people, and that learners in schools are confronted by a variety of problems, including drugs and substance abuse, which leaves them feeling vulnerable, hopeless, and overwhelmed.
While the province witnessed several tragic and premature deaths of learners who took the painful decision of ending their lives, it was important to draw interventions to deal with the concerning and alarming numbers of learner suicides and deaths.
The Ke Moja Coaches and its Coordinators will play a critical role in bringing about substance abuse prevention programmes to 727 schools in Gauteng.
This includes 103 Puppet Coaches who specialise in using puppetry as a creative tool to convey messages, 102 Alternatives Coaches who are targeting youth out of school through poetry, dance, music, drama and physical fitness, and 43 Coordinators who play a decisive role in the overall coordination of the programme in 23 Non-Profit Organisations.
'Ke Moja' which means 'I am fine without Drugs', is a brand name for the South African Government geared towards drug and substance abuse prevention.
Ke Moja was launched by former Minister of Social Development, the late Zola Sekweyiya to focus on strengthening and building capacity, self-reliance and resilience of young people while addressing individual, environmental and societal factors to create conditions that enhance wellness and ultimately prevent social challenges or risks.
The programme is implemented mainly in primary and secondary schools as well as tertiary institutions. It aims at sustaining a drug free environment in which learners and the youth enjoy their freedom by developing intellectually, socially, economically, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
Furthermore, to help children and the youth, to avoid initiation into the use of drugs, or, if they have already started, to avoid developing disorders such as dependence.
According to the 2020/24 Deliverology Plan for the Gauteng Department of Social Development, the Department is mandated to reduce the demand for drugs through the rollout of substance abuse prevention programmes to 8 280 420 children, youth and adults by 2024.
The Gauteng Department of Social Development is implementing the programme in all five (5) Regions or Corridors of the province, in partnership with the NPO sector.
The NPOs are contracted to appoint coaches that implement the programme at identified high risk schools. African Youth Development Fund (AYDF) conducts continuous capacity building, training and monitoring of the implementation of the programme.
The success of the programme prompted the Department to continue with training of new coaches and provide them with a certificate of participation on an annual basis.
Each year, since 2013, the Department hosts a certification and award ceremony to acknowledge the best performing coaches and implementing organisations. This serves as motivation to continue with service excellence and also serves as an encouragement to improve service delivery.