Media briefs

In an effort to meet the vast development challenges confronting and impacting on the South African youth, as well as to contribute to the youth development process in South Africa, the Youth Section of the Department of Welfare?s Chief Directorate: Population Development requested the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to compile The Youth Book: A Directory of South African Youth Organisations, Service Providers and Resource Material.

South Africans are generally hostile to illegal immigrants and strongly support government measures to curb illegal immigration. According to a joint national survey of public opinion on security issues conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in October 1996, almost two-thirds of respondents (65%) strongly disapprove of illegal immigration.

There is strong public support for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) playing an external role ? including peacekeeping. This could possibly reflect a belief among South Africans that the country?s security cannot be pursued in isolation from that of our neighbours.

Throughout the world there is a growing awareness of the serious problem of child abuse and neglect. In South Africa child abuse has reached epidemic proportions. In 1996, the SAPS Child Protection Unit (CPU) alone dealt with 32 033 cases of abuse against children (excluding offences under the Child Care Act 74/1983, such as child neglect and abandonment). This constitutes an increase of 47% on the 15 224 cases reported in 1993.