Youth crime: the critical role of social services

SOUTH Africa continues to grapple with high levels of violence targeting children and youth, with recent statistics painting a grim picture of the risks facing young people across the country.

- MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

Between April 2024 and March 2025, official police records show that nearly 273 children under 18 were murdered, averaging almost three deaths every day.

Additionally, thousands of young victims suffered attempted murders and serious assaults, with girls disproportionately targeted for sexual violence and abuse.

This alarming trend has highlighted the urgent need for effective crime prevention strategies that go beyond law enforcement to address the underlying social and economic conditions that place children at risk.

Experts from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and civil society groups say social service delivery by the departments of Education, Health, and Social Development is key to preventing youth crime and victimisation.

"Our children are not safe. The systems designed to support and protect them are failing.

"We cannot police our way out of this crisis; it begins with care, access to services, and restoring dignity," said Cheryl Franks, a senior researcher at the ISS.

She warned that service delivery gaps across these departments were leaving children exposed to the very conditions that breed violence, poverty, poor schooling, unsafe housing, abuse, and neglect. "Social crime prevention isn’t just about interventions after a crime has happened. It’s about disrupting the root causes before they escalate," she said.