Whitaker said he felt a responsibility to prevent the same thing from happening to the “new generation”.
He hosted a press conference in Bridgetown, Athlone, to give an update on progress made at the recently launched Youth Peacemaker Network Programme on the Cape Flats, run by the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI).
The WPDI also has operations in Sudan, Uganda, Mexico and the US.
Forty-six young people have enrolled in the Athlone programme, which gives participants training in a variety of fields and promotes peace, reconciliation and social development.