Coming up on
Special Assignment:
Broadcast date: Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Episode Title: Child Brutes
Young people in South Africa are statistically twice as likely as adults to fall prey to crime. For children growing up in this cycle of violence there is a fine line between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator.
Last year newspapers carried the horrific story of Seiso Ratsoana, a four-year old who as a toddler was kidnapped and tortured by two 11-year old boys.
Special Assignment tells the story of the little boy who was preyed upon by criminals who were little boys themselves and speaks to psychologists who present a profile of indicators that could turn young children to a life of crime.
The show also speaks to several youngsters who at an age where they should be in school, are already seasoned criminals. They tell of a life of desperation and violence that seemed to offer few alternatives.
With more than half the country’s population under the age of 25, and with crime just as likely to happen in the home as in the schoolyard, the episode asks, are our youth getting more brutal?
Special Assignment is on SABC3 on Tuesdays at 20h00.