Kasi Skateboard School keeps youth safe

Lack of recreational facilities is considered a contributing factor to substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and crime amongst youth. The 2020 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) showed that sports and other recreational programmes are vital for development and crime prevention. Last year, a community in the Eastern Cape blamed the shortage of sports and fitness centres, community halls, parks, libraries, cultural centres and other facilities for the Enyobeni tavern tragedy, where 21 teenagers died under mysterious circumstances. Twenty-five-year-old Goitsemodimo Melato from Sebokeng township in Emfuleni Local Municipality, one of Gauteng's poorest municipalities, started a skateboarding school to keep young people off the streets. Melato started skateboarding when he was 11-years-old. With his three friends, Kabelo Tladi, Sello Motaung, and Tumelo Motlou, Melato established the Kasi…