In a tragic incident that has shaken the community, a 16-year-old schoolgirl named Zamawushe Momoti was shot and killed at her school gates in Cape Town, South Africa. This senseless act highlights the escalating gun violence that has become a significant threat to children’s safety in the country.
In response to this alarming trend, Gun Free SA, an organization dedicated to combating gun violence, has proposed an innovative solution: the installation of bulletproof cubes in playgrounds. These cubes, measuring 20m by 20m, would serve as protected areas where children can play and socialize without fear of being caught in crossfire.
Each cube would be equipped with surveillance cameras (CCTV), panic buttons, and a direct hotline to the police, ensuring that authorities can be quickly notified in the event of an emergency. Access to the cubes would be controlled through facial recognition technology, with volunteers and parents also present to provide additional security.
Gun Free SA has invested a year in developing a prototype for these bulletproof playgrounds. If approved by the city, the first cube will be installed in the Mitchell’s Plain area of Cape Town, where the need for such a protective measure is particularly urgent.
Adele Kirsten, director of Gun Free SA, emphasized the urgency of addressing the gun violence crisis: ‘We have been campaigning for 25 years to eradicate the root cause of this problem, which is guns on the streets, but things have gotten worse. We are plagued by gang violence.’
Statistics paint a grim picture of the situation in South Africa: guns kill over 11,000 people annually, and nearly half of the 75 daily murders in the country involve firearms. Children are particularly vulnerable, with nearly half of the children hospitalized in Cape Town with gunshot wounds in the past 20 years being victims of crossfire bullets.
While some schools have resorted to installing bulletproof mesh fencing and instructing students to hide under desks at the sound of gunfire, Gun Free SA believes that more drastic measures are necessary. Their proposed bulletproof playgrounds are an ‘outrageous solution to an outrageous problem,’ as Kirsten describes it.
Despite the significant cost of implementing these playgrounds, estimated at £425,000 each, Gun Free SA argues that it is a small price to pay compared to the ongoing costs of gun-related deaths and injuries. In 2014 alone, the cost of medical treatment for gunshot victims in South Africa amounted to £260 million.
The organization also recognizes the need to protect children beyond the confines of the playgrounds and is developing a range of bulletproof vests for kids to ensure their safety while walking to and from school.
The proposal for bulletproof playgrounds has received support from various community organizations, including the Cape Flats Safety Forum and the Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum. They acknowledge that parks have become breeding grounds for gang activity and welcome any initiative aimed at making them safer for children.
The implementation of these bulletproof playgrounds is a testament to the desperate need for solutions to the gun violence crisis in South Africa. While they may not be a permanent fix, they offer a glimmer of hope for protecting children from the senseless violence that has become all too common.
