Faith leaders are calling on Capetonians to march through the city centre for peace next week.
According to a statement by the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), the SA Religious Forum and the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative, the Silent Peace and Prayer March will be hosted on 20 September where a memorandum will be handed over at Parliament.
The march comes amid the release of the latest crime statistics by Police Minister Bheki Cele this week, which shows that an average of 57 people are killed each day in South Africa.
STATS: Minister of Police, Cele. Photo: Supplied
“What is more worrying, is the increase in murders of women, who are our primary caregivers, as well as children,” reads the statement.
“The silent march aims to hold government responsible for ending corruption. We want those in authority to work with communities to reduce the level of crime and gang violence in our areas. We want real, focused, measurable outcomes and we will be looking for renewed commitment and motivation from our law enforcement organisations.”
According to the statistics a total of 2930 women were killed in the period between April 2017 and March 2018, which is an increase of 11%.
During this time 985 children were killed, of whom 294 were girls.
On 29 August the Faith Leaders of Cape Town held a silent march from St. George’s Cathedral to the Castle of Good Hope, where white doves were released as a symbol of the peace.
Now they are calling on Capetonians to join them at 10am on Keizersgracht Street on Thursday for the march to Parliament.