“iGUNiFLOP Feasibility Study”
Adam Gabriel Yoffie
Introduction
South Africa has a strong history of youth activism. From the formation
of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League to the 1976
Soweto uprisings, youth leaders played a crucial role in toppling
the apartheid regime and bringing about a fully democratic South
Africa.
During the political transition to democracy, activists encountered
increasingly violent state-sponsored attacks. At the same time,
violence was wielded by certain sections of the democratic movement
on communities to ensure that they remained “ungovernable.”
The death toll rose as negotiations moved closer and closer to finalization.
It took all of the skilled leadership and negotiating skills of
great leaders such as Nelson Mandela to avert a full-fledged civil
war.
The weapons used in the early 1990’s, however, were never
recollected and destroyed. The democratic government made, at best,
a feeble attempt to entice its citizens to hand in their firearms.
Meanwhile, bogged down with issues of reconciliation and the transformation
of the inefficient state infrastructure inherited from apartheid,
the new government was busy trying to ameliorate the impoverished
community.
Ten years later, South Africa is riveted by a different form of
internecine violence. A large number of weapons circulating throughout
the country is now used for large and small-scale criminal attacks.
Many of the nation’s youth, especially from areas of great
poverty and high unemployment, have turned to crime and gangs. Once
at the forefront of anti-apartheid activism, the younger generation
currently constitutes the largest percentage of victims of gun violence.
Thirty people are killed by guns in South Africa everyday –
a rate of incidence that is ten times that of the United States.
Cape Town and Johannesburg continually battle for the dubious distinction
of highest city murder rate in the world. As a result of the soaring
level of homicide in the country, the older generation, wistful
for the days of youth-led protests and boycotts, is extremely critical
of today’s youth. Although the cynicism is not without merit,
there are still some young adults committed to the betterment of
their communities.
Gun Free South Africa, a non-governmental organization founded
in 1994, is currently developing a new youth initiative for schools
in the Western Cape. Cognizant of the power of peer-to-peer education,
Gun Free has enlisted the help of experienced and passionate youth
advocates eager to spread the organization’s message.
Selected to participate in the Hart Leadership’s Service
Opportunities and Leadership Program at Duke University, I was sent
to Cape Town for two months to intern at Gun Free South Africa.
What follows is my community-based research project, “iGUNiFLOP
Feasibility Study.” The project includes information about
a youth initiative I helped design, as well as an evaluation of
its viability. As a rising junior majoring in political science
and pursuing a certificate in documentary studies with an emphasis
in oral history, I was also interested in working on some form of
oral history project related to the topic of gun control. I spent
many years in high school fighting for stricter gun control in the
United States and hoped to meet similar activists in Cape Town.
Charged with the task of helping the organization research and develop
a new youth initiative, I conducted a series of oral history interviews
with local youth leaders and victims of gun violence. Although I
could identify with their passion for the subject, I quickly recognized
the vast personal differences between myself and my fellow activists.
Intrigued by their work and eager for others to hear their voices,
I decided to turn the six interviews with Gun Free’s youth
activists into a separate oral history project. Supported by Duke
Professor and Director of the Hart Leadership Program Alma Blount
and Gun Free National Advocacy Coordinator Margie Keegan, I was
able to dedicate a significant portion of my time to the project.
I am in the process of shaping these oral histories into a website
presentation, which can be viewed by clicking here.
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