BULAWAYO Provincial Affairs minister Judith Ncube has warned students to stay away from vuzu parties during the school holiday to prevent unplanned pregnancies, among other ills.
Schools closed on Wednesday and are set to open on May 9, 2024.
Vuzu parties are wild indoor gatherings organised by teenagers, especially during weekends and school breaks, where they indulge in beer binges, drugs and group sex.
The teenagers fund the party, often without the knowledge of their parents.
Reports have shown that it is often at such parties where young people are introduced to the world of sex and drugs.
A number of teenagers, including learners, have been arrested at the parties during raids conducted by the police.
In January this year, 10 juveniles, nine of them learners at two Bulawayo schools, were arrested at a house in Malindela suburb for hosting a vuzu party.
Speaking during an anti-drug abuse campaign on Tuesday, Ncube urged learners to stay away from drugs and illegal substances as well as vuzu parties during the school holiday.
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“As a community, we need to have an all-hands on the deck approach to the drug and substance abuse pandemic,” Ncube said in a speech read on her behalf by the director of economic affairs, Simon Sawunyama
“Just because your child does not do drugs, does not do crime or bullying, it does not necessarily mean that they are fully protected from the effects of these evils.”
She added: “Young people, everything is planned, from the food you eat, the people you meet and the drugs that you later get addicted to.
“Drug suppliers first give you a dose for free and upon addiction, they start selling them to you. Because you are hooked and cannot function without them, you resort to theft, either at home or out in the community.”
Bulawayo provincial education director Bernard Mazambane urged schools to initiate programmes such as peer counselling and after school activities to keep learners away from vuzu parties and drugs.
The vuzu parties are known to be so wild that sometimes they end in death.
In February 2022, three children died in a pool at a party that was organised by teenagers in Greendale, Harare.
