Members of the Manenberg Safety Forum (MSF) and concerned residents will be meeting gang leaders on Wednesday evening to salvage a shaky truce established between warring gangs. The Forum’s Rugshanda Pascoe says the community hopes to have gang leaders sign their declaration for peace, in an attempt to hold them accountable for any violation to the peace truce agreed upon two weeks ago.

The meeting will begin at 7h30pm tonight at the Downeville Primary School where a symbolic prayer will also be made for those children who have died at the hands of gang violence.

Meanwhile, Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, Dan Plato says the department is satisfied with the results of the Youth Safety and Religion Partnership (YSRP) Programme and the effects had on the young members of the Manenberg community. Plato conducted an oversight visit to youth holiday programmes in Manenberg on Wednesday and found that for the duration of the June holiday period, youth and younger age groups received a warm plate of food, supervision, educational activities and entertainment for each day at four religious institutions in the area, a luxury for many children in the area.

“Through these programmes we want to equip these children with the knowledge of making positive choices for themselves. We want to sensitise them to the gang violence and abuse in order for them to say no if it is ever something offered to them,” Plato said.

The AFM Church which Plato visited hosted over a hundred children at the playground area next door. Plato spoke to some of the children their views on the programmes. The children roughly between the ages of six and fourteen all spoke of gang violence as a norm in their community. Many of them even knew the gang hand gestures for respective gangs operating in their neighbourhood. Plato explained that the programme aims to also address the children’s lack of sensitivity toward gang violence and drug abuse.

“I asked them about what they want to do in their life when their older, majority feels they want to become a lawyer to tackle the illnesses from within their community. After all it is important for us to reach out to the kids to keep them busy and keep them away from drugs and gangsterism. Last week I visited Elsies River and I can see where are making good inroads with this programme,” Plato added.

Plato says that while all the children residing within the gang stricken community cannot be given security for every minute of the day, he believes that the programme contributes to educating and informing them of those dangers and the consequences of accepting it.

Earlier this year, the department gave religious leaders over R3 million to create programmes and projects for young people in an attempt to keep them safe and busy during school holidays.

Pastor Sam Henkerman from the AFM Church in Manenberg told VOC News that this year, the department has identified the most affected young people in the community, the children under the ages of fourteen. Henkerman believes that it is this age group that can be influenced by a positive change.

“This is a programme that is contributing to a safer community but it is only a small contribution to a much needed bigger, collective approach. We have already seen a change in the learner attitude. We measure our effectiveness of the programme through going back to the schools when they open and conduct a self-image and self-worth assessment because we’ve identified that in socio-economic challenged communities, young people lack a sense of self-worth,” Henkerman explained.

Since the roll out of the programme, Henkerman says the church has fed over a hundred children every day. The department has ensured that each child has a R50 for a meal each day, which the religious institutions are expected to deliver.

“What is making this initiative such a strong one is the fact that the state has partnered with police, religious leaders, Community Policing Forums and also the FET Colleges in an attempt to reach out and bring about the necessary changes needed in the community,” Plato continued. VOC (Ra’eesah Isaacs)