Cape Town – The promotion of peace among
citizens in our country will serve as the foundation for taking a step away from the violence and a step closer towards transformation, said peace ambassador Riedwaan Samuels at the Cape Argus Mandela Day event yesterday.
“The youth from our Cape Flats are being brought up in violence and are being indoctrinated with the thought of violence being a norm.
“This idea is however false and it should ultimately be corrected in order to create a better future for every one of us.”
Samuels and other peace ambassadors gathered at Sans Souci Girls’ High School and spoke to hundreds of learners about the cultivation of peace as a way of acknowledging 67 years of Nelson Mandela’s fight towards human rights.
Speakers included, Labeeqah Stemmet, Rania Gamieldien, Cleo Paulse and Helena Hahn, whose messages of peace were also published in this newspaper.
Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai said that every generation has their own challenges and
we as a community have to find solutions.
“We are living in an extremely violent country today and there are more than 12 000 individuals serving life sentences in our prisons.
“A solution towards this is a society that matures to a level that no longer tolerates any form of violence.
“Mandela spent 27 years in jail, but what kept him going was the vision of a free, non-racial and a democratic country.
“In the remembering of Mandela we should acquire our own visions that can benefit all. The future adults need to participate in the process which makes crime an unacceptable way of living,” said Desai.
TCI Apparel also sponsored the youth with Mandela T-shirts.
Jazz African medleys were presented by the pupils and Jimmy Nevis got the audience off their seats, as he gave the school learners a live musical performance.
Professor in the field of peace, mediation and conflict resolution Brian Williams said: “The violence and killings begins with the idea of it and if we can change these ideas into peace then we can change the landscape of the country.”
Williams said peace education in schools and organisations will serve as the centre point for creating change.
The breaking of negativity will rely on the thinking pattern of our children.