NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                                          22 July 2004

CITY OF CAPE TOWN PROJECT TARGETS ROOT OF GANGSTERISM

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The City of Cape Town has announced a concerted and unique plan to curb the spread of gangsterism on the Cape Flats.

Named It’s Up to You, the project is the first partnership of its kind between local and provincial government.  The project sees the City of Cape Town’s Safer Cities Programme working together with the Provincial Department of Education’s Safe Schools Programme.

It’s Up to You will see the City Police and trained community counsellors visiting schools in high risk areas, and equipping learners with the tools to make the right decisions about their future.

Initially, ten trained community members and nineteen members of the City Police will visit ten pre-identified schools where there is strong peer pressure to join gangs.   The schools were selected in consultation with the Provincial Department of Education.

Councillor David Erleigh, the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, said at the launch of the project that its impact would be jointly assessed by the Safer Cities Programme and the Safe Schools Programme before being independently evaluated after six months.

“If successful, the project will roll out to other schools in high risk areas across the Cape Metropolitan Area,” he said.

“We know that the curse of gangsterism has deep roots in many communities who have come to accept it as a part of their daily lives.

“Today we pledge ourselves to change that, but we also acknowledge that it will take time to turn the ship around – time, huge effort and an unwavering commitment to release the chains that enslave our people.

Councillor Erleigh extended an invitation to gangster organizations to contact the Safer Cities Programme on (021) 400 1674. 

“The gangs themselves should participate in restoring the moral fibre of the Cape Flats community”, he said.

CITY OF CAPE TOWN PROJECT TARGETS ROOT OF GANGSTERISM

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Earlier this week, the City Police Chief, Mark Sangster, said he believed gangsterism was on the increase. A paper written by André Standing of the Institute for Security Studies puts the number of gangs in Cape Town at 120 and gang members at more than 100 000

“There is nothing glamorous or cool about being a gangster,” said Councillor Erleigh. “On the contrary, it is a curse that is eating away at the very fabric of our society. If we don’t destroy it, it will destroy us.”

He said it was clear that the best chance of success in addressing gangsterism was to take a multi-pronged and united approach involving the collective efforts of government and non-government organizations, civil society and the communities themselves.

“It is essential that the communities come to realize that they can beat gangsterism, even though most of them can’t remember a time when they were not under the heel of gangsters,” he said.

Included in the launch of It’s Up to You, held on the Stephen Reagan sportsfield in Westridge, Mitchells Plain - was a Festival of Opportunities in which 700 learners were invited to create a mural depicting a gang-free environment.

The ten schools participating in It’s Up to You are Weltevreden Primary, Caravel Primary, Alpine Primary, Ridgeville Primary, Beaconview Primary, Glendale Secondary, Tafelsig Secondary, Spine Road Secondary, Oval North Secondary and Cedar Secondary.

Issued by                    Rosemary Hare Public Relations cc

                                    P O Box 12521

                                    MILL STREET

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On behalf of               The City of Cape Town

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                                    CAPE TOWN

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For further information, please contact Rebecca Atherstone at Rosemary Hare Public Relations on (021) 465-1166 or 072 242 2685.

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