Khayelitsha youths work for peace
Nombini Matomela
12 May 2005
Young people in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape are volunteering to help reduce crime in the settlement, in a peace and development project.
The initiative is funded by the government, the City of Cape Town and the German-based organisation GTZ.
Khayelitsha is home to more than half of Cape Town's unemployed, and has a high crime rate.
The volunteer community peace workers were given certificates of participation at a ceremony in Khayelitsha's Site C on Wednesday.
They have been trained to identify situations with the potential of leading to conflict or crime. And they have been given skills that will help them find jobs.
"An analysis of crime in Site C revealed the need for this intervention," said Provincial MEC for Community Safety Leonard Ramatlakane at the launch. "You need this kind of volunteer call in this particular work.
"This is the third one in the country. We have a similar project in Soshanguve [Pretoria] and
Nyanga.
"But this is not only for Site C. We would like to see it as a project for Khayelitsha as a whole."
GTZ project manager Ulrich Burmer said the initiative would make the peace workers visible in high-crime areas.
"They will protect pensioners and provide a safe school environment," he said.
Project coordinator Bongani Luti said volunteers had shown a lot of enthusiasm.
"In a nutshell, it's a good project. The volunteers have high expectations," he said.
In 2001, President Thabo Mbeki identified Khayelitsha as a national focal points for an urban renewal programme.
The City of Cape Town has since launched a pilot urban renewal project, at a cost of R120 million, partly funded by the German government.
The city's director of urban renewal, George Penxa, said some of this funding was used to launch the peace and development project.
The bulk of the money will be used to establish a "safe node" in the township, integrating
social and commercial services and recreational facilities in a safe environment.
"The development will build and upgrade a library, a community hall and sport facilities at the safe node, which is still to be identified in Khayelitsha," he said.
Penxa said more facilities would be developed at a later stage, adding that the node would be within walking distance for about 20 000 to 50 000 people.
At the launch, the benefits of public-private partnerships in poor communities were emphasised.
Source: BuaNews
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