The ANC in the Nelson Mandela Bay has appealed to the Department of Basic Education to implement it's national strategy for the prevention and management of alcohol and drug use in schools.
This, follows the hit and run incident in front of a nightclub in Zwide in the early hours of Sunday morning, which left three learners, including two 14-year-old girls dead and several other learners injured.
ANC spokesperson, Gift Ngqondi, said "the sad and shocking tragedy" represented a dark chapter in the academic year and also "shines the spotlight on the abuse of alcohol by our youth".
He said alcoholism among the youth was a concern given that at least half of the country's population were young people under the age of 35.
Ngqondi said programmes should promote learner-based interventions together with community activities to create awareness on the impact of alcohol and drug abuse.
"Most importantly the strategy focuses largely on the prevention of alcohol and drug use. It creates an enabling environment for those learners who have become addicted to alcohol and drugs to access treatment, care and support services.It must promote learner-based interventions together with community activities to raise awareness on the impact of alcohol and drug abuse on schools" he said.
Ngqondi said another worrying factor in South Africa was the fact that alcohol can be easily purchased from bottle stores, supermarkets, bars and shebeens and other unlicensed liquor outlets, which outnumber licensed ones, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
"There is also a tendency to do more harmful binge drinking. Reasons for use and misuse of alcohol include peer pressure and a desire to fit in, poor home environs and boredom, ignorance of alcohol's harms, and the relative cheapness of alcohol products and their ease of access" he added.
Ngqondi said that society must accept that alcohol and drugs are significant barriers to both teaching and learning.
"Abuse of these substances has been linked to academic difficulties, absenteeism, and drop-out from schooling thus impacting negatively on the attainment of quality basic education," he said.
The ANC has also called for an immediate investigation of the cause of the accident and that the appropriate steps be taken to hold the responsible parties accountable.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the two 14-year-old girls and the 19-year-old man were expected to be identified by their family members at the New Brighton mortuary on Monday.
The search for the taxi driver is still continuing.
