Dedicated Peace Ambassadors combating the virus of violence

‘IF YOU want peace, work for justice,” (Pope Paul V1). Injustice is not simply a political construct but applies to any form of conduct that contains violence. Violence has three primary dimensions and is present in human relationships on a permanent basis.

The virus of violence creates negative multiplier effects. Unchecked, it will become totally destructive. The Cape Flats is the most violent area in South Africa where organised non-state-armed groups operate with impunity and exercise power over the lives of millions of people. There are centuries of embedded violence that one has to contend with. The Peace Ambassador pilot peace project in Hanover Park is the first of its kind in South Africa. This innovative project has ignited excitement about peace as a means to positively transform relationships within a war zone.

Peace, a state of harmony, is likened to a light that is a gift. This gift must be shared with others for its power to warm the hearts of everyone and to act as a divine compass. The methodologies applied during the peace training demonstrated that it was possible for anyone to become a messenger of peace. Peace has spiritual, philosophical and practical value at personal and collective levels.

Mr Ivan Anthony, a manager with the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Urban Renewal Programme (Murp), held discussions with me after completing research about different peace models. He engaged with the Murp team, and after a number of conceptual presentations they agreed that a pilot Peace Ambassadors programme should be rolled out. Hanover Park councillor Advocate Antonio van der Rheede endorsed the project and expressed the view that peace is one of the most important requirements needed for developments to become sustainable. Van der Rheede started a number of initiatives that dovetailed with the peace projects.

The Cape Flats is located within the 403 square kilometres of Cape Town. Inside this vortex of violence, Hanover Park is regarded as the most afflicted Cape Flats community.

South Africa is a powder keg. A total of 172 695 people were murdered in South Africa (2008-2017), and, in the Western Cape province, 27 040 for the same period. There were 171 067 attempted murders nationally, and in the province 26 882. The South African statistics for the same periods exclude other forms of violence, general criminality and law-breaking. Contrast that with the fullscale war declared by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. The combined total of US soldiers killed in those full-blown wars, from 2001-2015 in Afghanistan and 2003-2015 in Iraq, was 6 800.

The Peace Ambassador project is based on similar designs that I apply to my work in northern Uganda and South Sudan. South Sudan is listed as the worst war zone in Africa. South Sudan was identified by Global Peace Index 2016 as the second-most dangerous country on the planet, after Syria. I have also worked in other war zones across the continent, and it always inspires me that despite the worst forms of violence, the beauty of love cannot be destroyed. There are always people who care about building peace.

All war zones have political forces and economic interests that benefit from chaos.

Working for peace disturbs existing power relationships and attracts powerful enemies. Those who build peace will find all kinds of traps and obstacles placed in their way. From threats of violence to actual violence and the use of disinformation and outright lies: any means to destabilise a peace-building programme designed to make communities safe will be employed.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and the violence narrative that occupies space becomes dominant. This is the image of Hanover Park. Peace stories are emerging to challenge the narrative of violence. The incredible beauty that lives in all of us affirms that there is great power in peace. Peace Ambassadors are trained to apply field research principles to authenticate the data. Everyone who seeks to become a Peace Ambassador must be involved in sharing the messages of peace and completing a peace project.

I spent the weekend monitoring Peace Ambassadors from Groenvlei High and Mountview High, a mother and daughter team, groups that engaged young children at risk and another group that addressed the Catholic parishioners in Hanover Park: all of them shared messages of peace collectively to more than a thousand people. Their light of peace will melt the cold embrace of violence. Aristotle said that “during our darkest moments, we must focus to see the light”.