{"id":192322,"date":"2021-06-17T00:13:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T22:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=103681"},"modified":"2021-06-17T00:13:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T22:13:08","slug":"gqeberha-children-killed-in-cross-fire-remembered-this-youth-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/gqeberha-children-killed-in-cross-fire-remembered-this-youth-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Gqeberha children killed in cross-fire remembered this Youth Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A statue representing the children killed in the cross-fire of firearm shoot-outs in Gqeberha\u2019s Northern Areas was unveiled today (Youth Day \u2013 June 16, 2021).<\/p>\n

The statue \u2013 titled \u2018The Last Child\u2019 \u2013 was created together with family, community members, Zano Ntobela and well-known local artist, Duncan Stewart.<\/p>\n

It was sculpted using clothing donated by the parents of the deceased children and commissioned by National Glass, a family-owned and managed business head-quartered in Gqeberha.<\/p>\n

Some of National Glass\u2019 staff members have lost children to stray bullets, while others have to deal with the trauma of violent acts visited upon them.<\/p>\n

Unemployment in the Northern Areas is high, and in addition to the commission and providing the bullet-proof glass that encases the statue to symbolise the communities\u2019 desire and efforts to protect the children, National Glass will run an integrated internship programme in a bid to help stem the socio-economic forces that fuel the behaviour.<\/p>\n

The unveiling of the statue was attended by community members including those who have lost children to gun violence, community leaders including Christian Martin who co-ordinates efforts to make the streets safer for children, the artist Duncan Stewart and the Managing Director and other executives from National Glass as well as ward councillors and government officials.<\/p>\n

Engraved on the plinth is a verse inspired by the well-known poem1 written in 1960 by Ingrid Jonker: \u2018The child who was shot dead by soldiers in Nyanga.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cDie kind is nie dood nie
n\u00f2g by Bethelsdorp n\u00f2g by Booysen Park
n\u00f2g by Gelvandale n\u00f2g by Helenvale
n\u00f2g deur die hele Northern Areas\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe death of a child is the worst experience a parent can go through. No words, nor time, can fully heal the wound their child\u2019s passing leaves behind \u2013 the memories and shattered dreams are scars that will always remain,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis statue represents all the innocent young lives that have been needlessly lost in the Northern Areas, and the bullet-proof casing the communities desire and effort to protect those that remain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting on the rationale for National Glass\u2019 involvement with the community, Managing Director Belinda Louw said that high unemployment rates and other socio-economic factors have contributed to increased violent behaviours within the area.<\/p>\n

Gun violence, in particular, has become a daily occurrence and children are getting caught in the crossfire while playing in their gardens or en route to and from school. No one is safe, she said, playgrounds even out of bounds because of the risk of stray bullets.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of our staff members live within the Northern Areas, and it is inspiring to see how resilient they and their communities are in the face of increasing violence,\u201d said Louw.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir experiences \u2013 especially those who are parents who have lost a child \u2013 are heart-wrenching and, while we can\u2019t ever hope to alleviate that pain, we hope that we can show our respect and sympathy with this small mark of remembrance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also acutely aware that the violence is driven by socio-economic factors so, while the company has always embraced youth employment and training schemes like Harambee and SAYouth2, we have decided to actively assist the Northern Areas youth through our new internship programme,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The project is proudly supported by the Mandela Bay Development Agency, MBDA. MBDA spokesperson, Luvuyo Bangazi, commented: \u201cThe MBDA as a municipal entity of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has for the last six years been involved with the Safety and Peace through Urban Upgrading programme, a South Africa and German Government co-funded programme for Helenvale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funder representing Germany is KfW Bank (development bank) and through that we were able to initiate various programme and infrastructure interventions in Helenvale, impacting the broader Northern Areas. It only made sense for us to get involved with this project in trying to bring a human face to gang violence, that it takes away loved ones, future innovators and leaders of society, and that we can all work together to end it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very pleased to be asked to be a part of this project,\u201d added Stewart. \u201cA father myself, I could immediately relate to the trauma that runs through the community, the fact that children are dying needlessly because of guns, and empathise with the utter despair and sense of helplessness parents must experience daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdding to the poignancy of the project, of course, was working with the clothing of the deceased children; that was incredibly unnerving and surreal, but very necessary to deliver the most powerful message we could. I am always exceptionally keen to play a role in a social effort that seeks to be the catalyst for a change for the better, and I hope what we have done today gives the community hope and strength for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A statue representing the children killed in the cross-fire of firearm shoot-outs in Gqeberha\u2019s Northern Areas was unveiled today (Youth Day \u2013 June 16, 2021). The statue \u2013 titled \u2018The Last Child\u2019 \u2013 was created together with family, community members, Zano Ntobela and well-known local artist, Duncan Stewart. It was sculpted using clothing donated by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":192323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,3330],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-192322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-port-elizabeth","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gqeberha-children-killed-in-cross-fire-remembered-this-youth-day.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}