Children in Beacon Valley, Mitchell’s Plain will be able to play in the world’s safest playground if Gun Free SA’s plan for a bulletproof park, complete with access control and panic buttons, materialises.
Bullet Proof Park, described as the only play area fully encased in bulletproof glass, will protect children from stray bullets.
“After discussing with activists and community members, Beacon Valley in Mitchells Plain has been earmarked as an area in which to build the park. This is an area that has reported numerous deaths of children caught in crossfire,” said Gun Free SA researcher Claire Taylor.
Taylor told ProtectionWeb that the design of the park was complete and was currently in the costing phase. “Initial figures are high though for a project of this undertaking and scope. The cost to build the park would come from communities and fundraising but unfortunately, these communities already pay a high toll from gun violence,” she said.
Although Gun Free SA has invested substantial time and resources into developing a proposal for the park, the organisation “wants to be clear in that we hope a park like this never has to be built.”
“In fact, we would go as far as encouraging the public and the government to help us not build this Bulletproof Park by supporting the introduction and enforcement of stricter gun laws, and efforts to trace and destroy all stolen and misplaced guns to permanently remove them from circulation,” said Taylor.
According to the latest annual crime stats, homicides in Mitchells Plain have increased by 24% between the 2021/2 and 2022/3 periods.
“Of the 404 gang-related deaths in the Western Cape between April-September 2023, at least 74 were bystanders caught in crossfire. All too often bystanders are children caught in the crossfire simply for playing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Research shows that children are disproportionately affected by stray bullets fired into the air or at missed targets.
“Over 20 years, nearly half of the children under 12 admitted to Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital were victims of crossfire. Bulletproof Park is an outrageous solution to an outrageous problem,” said Taylor.
