Alex FM, youth organisation Made in SA Revolution, and Gun Free South Africa held a gun violence awareness talk with the youth of the township.
Mpho Molutsi, the presenter of Bigger Than Life on Alex FM, said the event aimed at informing young people about gun-related crimes since it was common in the township. “We were trying to get people to talk about the issue and be in a safe place when coming up with solutions to reduce this,” Molutsi said. “People think that because of domestic violence, women are more likely to fall victim to gun violence, but this is not the case.”
Molutsi added that only 11 per cent of women who are in abusive relationships were victims of gun-related abuse by their spouses, while in general, 89 per cent of men were victims.
She said even though people acquired firearms for protection purposes it actually made them more vulnerable because their firearm could be being used against them.
“Young people do not know much about gun-related crimes and it is our duty as the media to educate them.”
Adele Kirsten, director of Gun Free South Africa, said gun violence was a huge problem in South Africa. “Between 16 and 18 people die as a result of gun violence every day. [And] for every one person who dies from this, at least five people survive gun violence.
“Whether it is political killings or gang violence, there should not be any other word for it – it is gun violence.”
She added that gun-related violence in the country had reached a point where it was worrying. “We have seen the number of murders increasing in recent years. We are in a real crisis.”
Kirsten said to reduce crime, young people needed to be informed. She added that keeping a firearm made suicide easier and increased the risk of arguments turning lethal.
Gun Free SA’s role is to educate people about gun violence through stats and evidence and to come up with solutions to eradicate it. However, there was some good news in that when the organisation was established in 1994, about 34 cases of gun violence were reported daily, but this has now been reduced to about 18 per day.
Kirsten added that it was easy for people to get hold of guns on the black market. “It takes about half an hour for one to obtain a gun illegally. Obtaining a gun licence legally is a long process and it is not easy.”
She said most firearms on the black market were stolen or lost service pistols. “Some police officers are allegedly also a source and there have been allegations of some of them hiring out their service pistols to criminals.
“It is difficult to determine how many guns are on the black market because one gun circulates between different people committing different crimes.”
Details: www.gfsa.org.za
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