Cape Town is among the top 20 most violent cities in the world.
Gang violence tears through impoverished suburbs on the Cape Flats, and the use of guns has become commonplace.
Hanover Park, a historical epicentre of gang violence, has seen the introduction of a specialised and strategic violence prevention and behavioural change programme.
Craven Engel, in partnership with the Cure Violence programme and the City of Cape Town, launched CeaseFire in 2010, reducing violence in Hanover Park by over 50% over 10 years.
The withdrawal of government funding in 2019 created a great struggle for CeaseFire to continue its crucial work and has led to an increase in violent crime in Hanover Park and the surrounding areas.
As per News24, the Western Cape Health Department reports that 79 children were killed between September and November this year.
The majority of deaths are cited to be due to the recruitment of children into gangs.
Additionally, the department revealed that 1 685 children were treated in its provincial hospitals for gunshot or stab wounds during the same period.
This underlines the dire need for urgent intervention from the organisation and government.
The organisation utilises reformed gang members, AKA ‘The Interrupters’, still respected by their former gangs, to locate potentially lethal, ongoing conflicts and respond with a variety of life-saving conflict mediation techniques both to prevent imminent violence and to change the norms around the need to use violence
CeaseFire also offers outreach to high-risk, gang-affiliated individuals, providing counselling, job training, drug abuse support, violence prevention, and immediate in-hospital response to prevent retaliation.
In an interview with VOC Breakfast on Thursday, Engel says the project has seen great success and hopes to continue the programme.
‘We have seen a reduction in gang violence due to the programme, we have also worked with several other organisations to see how we can better equip ourselves when it comes to tracking areas where violence is rife.’
‘We have successfully recruited nearly 600 ex-gang members, providing them with several skills to reintegrate into society and becoming a driving force for change,’ Engel said.
Ceasefire needs to continue its important work in Hanover Park and expand its reach to other high-risk Cape Flats communities.
Donate to help CeaseFire HERE.
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Picture: Muddy Rambler Productions / Youtube
