Gun Free SA (GFSA), working with the youth, wants to create awareness around gun violence and the dangers of people owning guns.
GFSA has youth leaders operating in Atlantis in Cape Town, Alexandra in Gauteng and Zwide and Kwazakhele in Port Elizabeth, where these young people facilitate talks at different high schools and primary schools and have open dialogues with children around their attitudes towards guns.
“We plan to expand to other areas around South Africa in future, where gun violence is a problem and where there are young community leaders who can facilitate discussions around the risks that come with owning a gun,” said Adele Kirsten, the director of GFSA.
“Our youth facilitations were
born out of our partnership with the Children’s Radio Foundation, an international organisation that links up with community stations all over Africa to create awareness around
specific issues that affect the youth,” she said.
Monique Hansen, a student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, said that she decided to become a youth facilitator because she
wanted to do more than just raise awareness around the dangers of gun violence.
Hansen and 10 other youths
from Atlantis work with GFSA as facilitators. Hansen said the reason she got involved with GFSA is to play her part in building a safer community.
Cape Argus