As violence continues to flare up on the Cape Flats, project Ceasefire, a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) located in Hanover Park is working tirelessly to restore peace in gang infested areas.
Speaking on VOC Breakfast on Thursday, Pastor Craven Engel, Founder of the Ceasefire Project currently operational in Hanover Park said the NPO deploys violence interrupters who use a specific method to locate potentially lethal, ongoing conflicts and respond with a variety of conflict mediation techniques both to prevent imminent violence and to change the norms around the need to use violence.
“Our interrupters are people who used to be part of gangs who have reformed themselves and now work with children at risk of being recruited into gangs. We believe that this is a great initiative as these are people who speak from experience and have an idea of what children at risk of being recruited into gangs are experiencing,” he stressed.
Engel said the project has been a great success and he wished to continue this programme as they are seeing a change in respective communities.
“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,” he added.
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