There is no getting around the fact that South Africa is an incredibly dangerous place to live.
It is an even more perilous place to raise children with kidnapping and the illegal arms trade that runs rampant in South Africa. Gun Free South Africa has been doing their best to curb this scourge with an array of interesting lobbying tools and proposals that for the most part government hasn’t really latched on to.
They have a proposal for a bulletproof park in the gun ridden area of Mitchell’s Plain in Cape Town.
Director at Gun Free South Africa Adele Kirsten and researcher at Gun Free South Africa Claire Taylor unpack this idea a little more for us and how a park, create inside a bullet proof and transparent cube could help keep children safe from gang land crossfire.
“The idea is to fully enclose play parks in bulletproof glass, offering all the fun of a regular play park with slides and monkey bars, but with the added benefit of preventing South Africa’s gun problem from entering parks.”
They tell us that everyday 34 South Africans are shot and killed. Research shows that children are disproportionately affected by stray bullets fired into the air or at missed targets.
“Over a 20-year period, nearly half of the children under 12 admitted to a Cape Town’s Children’s hospital have been victims of crossfire.
Gun violence is out of control. For some South Africans this feels like foreign concept, or a nightmare. But it’s very real for a lot of South Africans. We are serious about protecting children from flying bullets and finding ways to make community spaces safer.”
This is very much part of the work that Gun Free South Africa does creating gun free zones governed by communities.
“Bullet Proof Park was born out of similar work – asking what must be done to make playparks safe for children.”
After discussing with activists and community members Beacon Valley has been identified as an area experiencing high levels of gun violence and has reported numerous deaths of children caught in crossfire. This could be a possible site.
“Community safety activists in Mitchells Plain have to deal with gun violence every single day. There’s a strong sense that the police have failed many of the Cape Flats communities and they (the police) are not focusing on dealing with the source of the problem – getting guns off the streets and improving control over their own guns and that of gun dealers and legal owners.
“We cannot wait for the police! We have to find solutions and we can if we work together. The Bullet Proof Park is on such idea, yet it’s limited as it only protects a small number of children in a limited space.”
The problem isn’t limited to just Mitchell’s Plain. Gun Free South Africa has been collaborating with communities and has a significant presence across various initiatives and programs working with organizations across the country addressing gun violence.
“The design of the park is complete and is now in the costing phase. Initial figures are however quite high for a project of this undertaking and scope, potentially costing up to R10 000 000. The bulk of the cost to build the park would come from communities and fundraising but unfortunately these communities already pay a high toll from gun violence. This is an ambitious undertaking that would require serious funding.”
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The costs involved might very well be worth the undertaking. The two representatives tell us that in 2014 it cost R6 billion to treat gunshot survivors across all state hospitals. That was 4% of the national health budget.
The current size of the park is roughly 20m x 20m with all the usual play park features like slides and a small area to run around and play but the design allows for it to be adaptable.
“The park would be big enough for 24 children safely inside, but the safety of the children outside the park currently can’t be guaranteed. We’ve grappled with the limited nature of the protection the park offers as it doesn't protect children walking to and from school, going to the shops, or outside their own homes.
“Bulletproof Park makes it safer for those inside, but we need to be addressing the safety of all of us outside the park as well. We’ve explored prototyping a Bullet Proof Vest designed specifically for children – another extreme idea that is increasingly feeling more like a possible reality.”
The idea will involve extensive security features like facial recognition, security cameras and panic buttons to alert local police.
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“This is an incredibly complex system of security measures in an attempt to protect children from bullets. In the interim, local government and policing can help by keeping illegal guns off our streets and by charging cases of illegal possession of firearms. It’s crucial to remove illegal guns from circulation and destroy them to prevent shootings in the first place. The problem is going to require a long-term thinking to action real change.”
The vigilance of the surrounding community is also paramount the success of this park. To bolster that, the park will be fitted with level eight bullet proof glass.
“The park will be encased in the highest-grade bullet-proof glass, able to withstand even direct hits from bullets. A step to protect from bullets but doesn’t address the issues of guns and removing illegal guns from circulation.”
It will also have panic buttons to be used in the event of any shootings.
Bullet Proof Park is in the initial stages and still needs to be submitted to the city.
“Even though we have invested substantial time and resources into developing a proposal for the park, we hope a park like this never has to be built. A bullet proof park is a proposal to protect children from gun violence, but it doesn’t address the root cause of the issue: guns.
“We strongly encourage the public and government to help us not build this Park by introducing stricter gun laws, trace all stollen and misplaced guns, and remove them from circulation. If we’re able to stop the source of the bullets, perhaps parks wouldn’t need to be bulletproof.”
