The effect of exposure to community violence on youth on the Cape Flats

Abstract

Community violence exposure contains a variety of contextual and subjective complexities that include being the victim or hearing of shootings, stabbings, weapon possession with intent of criminal use, beatings, burglaries, and drug activities that could have negative consequences on youth development. This study aimed to understand the effects of exposure to community violence on youths from selected townships on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape province, South Africa, and to suggest ways of reducing community violence on the Cape Flats. Results indicate that increased extortion by gangsters on the Cape Flats has prevented young people from establishing their own businesses and consequently from participating in the mainstream economy. Furthermore, this study also revealed that the fear of being attacked by gangs is discouraging young school-going youths from walking long distances to their schools. The study recommends that the community on the Cape Flats including parents, guardians, and religious leaders should play an active role in addressing community violence by reporting people who resort to violent behaviour and not protecting them.

Keywords:

• community violence
• Cape Flats
• crime
• youth violence
• positive youth development
• youth gang

1. Introduction

According to Voisin et al. (2011), community violence is a type of violence that occurs in a community associated with sexual violence, gangsterism and housebreaking. In addition, community violence exposure contains a variety of contextual and subjective complexities that include being the victim or hearing of brutal acts such as shootings, stabbings, weapon possession with intent of criminal use, beatings, burglaries, hate crimes and drug activities. Community violence is often committed by community members who are related to the victim (Chen & Corvo, 2018). Kersten et al. (2017) show that threats with physical harm, being shot is the most frequent community violence exposure among young people. Many young people in South Africa experience violence in their communities (Leoschut & Kafaar, 2017). Community violence differ from other social problems since it is an interpersonal violence that is experienced outside the home and continue to have negative socio-economic consequences to community members (Kaminer, Du Plessis, et al., 2013). In South Africa young people who live in a household with relatives, adults who are HIV/AIDS positive are at the greater risk of community violence exposure due to stigma associated with HIV/AIDS (Skeen et al., 2016). Hinsberger et al. (2016) argues that low-income urban communities in South Africa are imprinted by a cycle of violence and this results to many young people being the victim of crime or the perpetrator within the community. In the context of the present study community violence exposure refers to being directly or indirect contact with criminal activities that occurred within the Cape Flats community such as witnessing sexual violence, gangsterism, killing, housebreaking and hearing about criminal activities or being the victim of crime.

Kaminer, Du Plessis, et al. (2013) show that 98.9% of young people on the Cape Flats have witnessed violence and 40.1% have been victims of violence in the community. Kinnes (2017) asserts that the Cape Flats community is one of the oldest townships characterised by extremely high levels of violent behaviour committed by gang members and the police have not yet devised an effective strategy to provide relief in the area. Importantly, in their study Chauke and Malatji (2021) claim that the youths on the Cape Flats resort to violent behaviour as a consequence of lack of parental affection and the use of drugs. Kaminer, Hardy, et al. (2013) state that eight out of ten youths living in townships in South Africa have witnessed community violence or have been victims of a crime committed by community members that has affected them mentally. Artz et al. (2014) argue that youths who come from a milieu of domestic violence suffer from mental issues.

Although previous studies on young people have found that there are negative effects from being exposed to violence, no study has to my knowledge attempted to explore the effects of community violence on youths ranging from their potential to achieve economic success, education and social as well as psychological development. Earlier studies devoted attention to the mental health aspect but neglected other important areas of positive youth development. Furthermore, these studies were not conducted on the Cape Flats, hence the current study aims to highlight the effects of community violence exposure on the youth. In addition, this study also empowers youths to suggest an intervention that can be adopted in the fight against community violence on the Cape Flats. This study is significant as it will contribute to youth development as well as social work research in South Africa and assist youth policy decision-makers by proposing a specific intervention that can reduce violence on the Cape Flats and can also help to disengage youths from violent behaviours through the study recommendations. The current body of research can also create a platform for advocacy as violence is one of the societal issues that confronts South African youth.

2. Community violence exposure

Kennedy and Adams (2016) point out that young women are often the victims of sexual violence in their communities before they turn 13, which places them at risk of being HIV positive and even having an unwanted pregnancy. Begie et al. (2011) show that males as victims of gun violence in their communities in comparison with females are more likely to resort to negative strategies, such as using alcohol to deal with the pain. On the other hand, Slone and Mayer (2015) claim that more young women than young men suffer from depression after being exposed to community violence such as sexual abuse. Sui et al. (2021) stress that girls find it difficult to deal with being victims of crime or being exposed to community violence and this often leads to situations where young women start having suicidal thoughts; some even end up committing suicide. Decreasing social cohesion is pointed as one of the contributing factors to community violence in particularly in South African township such as intimate partner violence (Matzopoulos et al., 2010). During the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria young women had been raped and killed in their community (Uwaegbute & Unachukwu, 2022).

Zimmerman and Messner (2013) state that black youth living in neighborhoods characterized by hyper-segregation and concentrated poverty are much more likely to witness or being the victim of community violence, such as hate crime and shooting compared to white youth. Community violence such as killing of women, children in South Africa is rife because of the normalisation of violence (Graaff & Heinecken, 2017).

3. Contextualising the effect of community violence exposure

Isaacs and Savahl (2014) claim that people exposed to community violence become apathetic towards other people. The daily basic incomes of working people are also affected by the violence that stems from a variety of criminal activities, such as housebreaking. In addition, people find it hard to go to work because of the crime levels in their areas (Sheer et al., 2018). It is evident that people living in a violent community, such as the Cape Flats in the Western Cape, South Africa, experience constant anxiety and always live in fear that something bad can happen to them at any moment (Malibongwe, 2021). Scott (2012) argue that most South Africans living in cities such as Johannesburg have witnessed crime, and this contributes, for example, to traumatic stress among the students in the city. Gillian (2015) claims that living in a violent environment hinders community members from participating in positive social activities. Young people at institutions of higher learning who experience violent protests suffer emotional and physical consequences (Galovski et al., 2016). Moloko (2019) concludes that South Africans are used to living in violent environments and that this has a negative impact on their sense of wellbeing and creates a feeling of disempowerment. Savahl et al. (2013) indicate that most South Africans suffer from mental health and psychosocial issues due to persistent exposure to community violence. On the other hand, education is the most fundamental aspect of positive youth development. The same study further shows that youths living in violent environments struggle to finish their studies, while those who are still engages in their studies experience academic decline.

Ncontsa and Shumba (2013) note that youths who are the victims of violence that occurs in schools or communities, such as teasing, bullying, and cyberbullying, tend to suffer from depression and social anxiety. It is difficult for them to associate with other youths within the school environment as they feel that everyone is out to harm them. Reaching out for help is not an alternative for these youths, because they believe that society has also failed them. Le Rous and Mokhele (2011) postulate that self-pity among youths who are the victims of violence is a common phenomenon. Some of these youths often develop suicidal thoughts. Moloko (2019) notes that violence affects community members’ overall psychological wellbeing. Communities and Justice (2019) show that children who are the victims of a crime or exposed to violent scenes are more likely to suffer from insomnia. Omoniyi (2013) argues that violence is a contributing factor to depression among the youth. Violence affects young people’s mental health (Zengeya, 2016).

Furthermore, violence is associated with personality disorders; the victim shows no interest in interacting with other people and withdraws at school and from social activities (Dunre et al., 2013). Mncube and Madikizela-Madiya (2014) contend that youths who witness violence in schools and the community, such as gang-related violence, are more likely to suffer from stress, lower self-esteem, and persistent fear. Hlatshwayo (2018), in line with Mncube and Madikizela-Madiya (2014), alludes to the fact that youths are frightened to walk alone after school, thinking that they may be attacked by gangsters in the school environment. Duke et al. (2018) claim that youths exposed to violent communities often develop health-risk behaviours such as using drugs to cope with the stress caused by witnessing violence.

4. Mitigation of the community violence

South Africa remains an extremely unequal society; the injustices of the past can be blamed to a certain extent, even with regard to the level of violent behaviour in South Africa. A study on students conducted by Morwe (2020) highlights the need for examining race relations and finding a better way of uniting white and black students, which may in turn contribute to violence-free campuses. Xincheng et al. (2020) claim that building social competence among the youth can help to reduce violent behaviour as youths can learn to control their emotions. In dealing with violence against young women in the community, Chauke (2021) proposes that holistic youth programmes that address gender-based violence should be supported financially to ensure that their interventions are expanded. Televised violent content evidently influences violence in communities. Thus, there is a need for parental workshops that can equip parents with skills on how to communicate with their children on the influence of violent contents on television (Chauke & Malatji, 2018). Chauke et al. (2019) claim that the creation of after-school programmes in communities can help to reduce violent youth behaviour or youths’ exposure to violence. Furthermore, community leaders should implement community-based interventions programmes that promote healthy behaviours amongst the youth and ensure that community violence does not influence them (Chauke et al., 2021).

The current study will supplement the empirical literature on the effects of community violence on youths living on the Cape Flats. The literature is focused on the effect of violence on youths, their health and psychological wellbeing, but other areas that hamper youths a vulnerable group hard-hit by youth unemployment from participating in the labour market and community development activities are neglected. This study is unique in that it highlights the effects of violence on Cape Flats youths’ economic participation and educational success. Similarities between the previous research and the current study have been identified. In this study the youths were given a voice to raise their concerns and other youths were involved as research assistants, which made them partners in this youth violence research.

5. Theoretical framework

In this study, I adopted a positive youth development theory. Peteru (2008) postulates that positive youth development theory is important in addressing youth development because its main focus is on the participation of young people in their community. In addition, it views young people having a role to play in their community rather than seeing young people as always causing a problem and needing help. Positive youth development theory focuses on young people’s potential (Benson, 2002). This theory is used to encourage youth workers to make use of positive youth development theory in addressing community violence and helping youths to cope with and fight violence on the Cape Flats. Youth workers on the Cape Flats need to assist youths to reach their full potential and reach their goals in life regardless of the challenges that they face in their communities. This will also encourage youths to see themselves as people who have an important role to play in eradicating violence on the Cape Flats. Villaruel et al. (2003) stress the five P’s that youth workers can adopt to assist in addressing violence on the Cape Flats as follows:

6. Possibilities

This first P emphasises the importance of creating opportunities for the youth in the community. The assumption is that youth workers can create opportunities for youths to get involved in community service. These youths can be great ambassadors on the Cape Flats and alert the police when violence erupts. In addition, economic opportunities that can keep youths busy should be created.

7. Participation

This second P focuses on educating youth to accept responsibility for their action. Thus, accepting responsibility will encourage youth to participate in community engagement for the benefit of their community. Youth workers and community members on the Cape Flats need to engage youths in a meaningful community project that seeks to promote youth participation; this will help in addressing community violence. Youth participation gives youth opportunities to contribute to the development of their respective communities. In addition, enhancing youth participation will make youth see themselves as people who have a role to play in addressing community violence in Cape Flats.

8. People

The third P concerns the people with whom the youths spend most of their time. They are sometimes the victims of crime because of the people with whom they associate. Thus, youth workers need to make sure that youths are not drawn to areas identified as “hot spots” and should rather encourage them to develop positive relationships with good people.

9. Places

This fourth P focuses on the resources that are made available for young people in the community. With regard to this fourth P, I argue that youth workers and community members need to ensure that there are resources in the community that youths can use to report a crime on the Cape Flats. This can involve making sure there is a designated place (Community policing hub) where youth can report a crime happening in their community.

10. Partnership

The main focus of the last P is on whether the youths are involved as partners in the community when projects that affect them are planned and implemented. Community violence on the Cape Flats hurts the development of young people. Therefore, the youth need to be involved as partners when community crime-prevention strategies are planned and implemented to ensure their input is taken into consideration.

From the above it can be seen that positive youth development theory is concerned with the development of young people rather than simply with addressing youth problems. Therefore, youth workers, community development stakeholders as well as other stakeholders responsible for youth development should use this positive youth development theory to encourage young people to use their skills to address community violence on the Cape Flats.

McDonald et al. (2011) in their study adopted positive youth development framework to explain it impact on community-dwelling youth who are the victim of crime and heard about criminal activities in their community. McDonald et al. (2011) in their study argue that the third P of positive youth development is essential in the resilience of young people who are the victim of community violence. Third P as mentioned early it emphasised the importance of people that youth associated with. Thus, in the third P of positive youth development framework, McDonald and his colleagues further argue that for girls, having a mother in the home was associated with significantly better outcomes than boys after witnessing community violence. This means that mothers at home were more supportive to girls who witness community violence than boys which is crucial for the development of a girl child.

11. Methods

This study made use of qualitative research method to understand the effect of exposure to community violence on youths from selected townships on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape, South Africa and suggest ways of reducing community violence on the Cape Flats. A qualitative method seeks, among other things, to understand the social issue from the participant’s point of view to understand how people construct the world around them (Kvales, 2008). Creswell (2014) points out that qualitative research is essential in understanding human experience, in part because the information is collected from participants in the field. I chose the qualitative research method for a variety of reasons, including that it allowed me and the research assistants to go to where the participants were and interview them. This helped to build a relationship with the participants and gain insights into how the violence affects their daily lives on the Cape Flats.

12. Study setting

The study was conducted on the Cape Flats (Gugulethu, Langa, Khayelitsha), Western Cape province, South Africa. The dominant language spoken by the participants was IsiXhosa. The Cape Flats is considered one of the most dangerous places in South Africa, because of its high crime rate. The Cape Flats is also among one of the poorest townships in South Africa, characterised by youth unemployment, particularly among young women and youths not in education nor employment and not in training. I chose the Cape Flats for this study because of the ever-increasing rates of violence in the community, which has a severe socio-economic impact on vulnerable groups, namely women and the youths who are excluded economically in the Western Cape province specifically and also in South Africa at large. Bowers Du Toit (2014), among many others, asserts that gangsterism is rife on the Cape Flats.

13. Phenomenological research design

The specific research design used in this study was phenomenological. Bryman (2012) explains that a phenomenological research design devoted attention to the lived experiences of the participants from their own point of view, through observations or spending time with the participants in their day-to-day lives during the data-collection process. In this study, the researcher and the research assistants stayed in the Cape Flats. This allowed us to spend time with the participants to understand their feelings and lived experiences. The fact that the research assistants stayed on the Cape Flats made it easy for the participants to feel comfortable about participating in this study.

14. Population and sampling

A convenience sampling of 30 youths was done on the Cape Flats. Gender was taken into consideration when the youths were selected to participate in this study. The sample was selected from Langa, Gugulethu, and Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats, the Western Cape province, South Africa. Convenience sampling was used because it helped me to gain access to the participants in different spaces without spending excessive time on this part of the project; this sampling was inexpensive and helped me to save time because any young person living on the Cape Flats who witnessed violence within a community, even falling victim to violent acts themselves, or being subjected to a combination of both experiences, met the criteria to be selected as a study subject. The researcher worked with a group of young people in Gugulethu who were involved in the skill development programme. In addition to that the researcher approached the programme coordinator and ask for young people who once witnessed violence in their community such as sexual violence, gangsterism and housebreaking, shootings, stabbings, and weapon possession. Then 11 youths came forward however, I then selected 10 youths because I wanted 10 youths from Gugulethu. The second approach that was used to sample the participants was through the assistance of two identified young research assistants who were involved in a youth programme that the researcher was coordinating both in Langa and Khayelitsha. The first research assistant from Langa acted as a team leader in a youth programme that comprised more than 35 youths, the research assistant explained the aim of the study to youths who were involved in the programme and requested 10 youths who once witnessed violence in their community. Last the research assistant in Khayelitsha who was involved in the youth programme identified 10 youths who once witnessed violence in Khayelitsha. Then 10 youths agreed to participate in the present study.

15. Data collection

In-depth individual interviews were used to collect data, this allowed the youths to speak freely about the effect of exposure to community violence on them. Before the interview started the informed consent forms were signed by all the participants. The participants also agreed to give the author permission to use voice recording in collecting data during in-depth individual interviews. This gave the participants an opportunity to express their views freely, as the community violence affected them in different ways. The language preferred by the participants was isiXhosa, but the participants were fluent in English; the involvement of two research assistants who spoke isiXhosa fluently helped in achieving the study objective. In-depth individual interviews lasted for 30 minutes. This method of data collection was chosen in the present study due to its intention of uncovering in-depth details of interviewee’s experience and perspective on a subject which was the effect of exposure to community violence on them. In addition, this method of data collection also gave the research assistant to have a normal conversation with the participants. The following questions in Table 1 during in-depth individual interview were asked.

Table 1. Research question

Research question

• Explain how does community violence exposure affect your educational attainment? • How does community violence exposure affect your relationship with community members? • How does community violence exposure limit your involvement in social activities? • Explain how does community violence exposure affect your economic development? • Besides the question raised above, explain to what extent is the community violence exposure affects the overall development of young people on the Cape Flats.

16. Data analysis

Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected from in-depth individual interview. The first step involved the initialisation phase, which entailed reading the transcripts of the interview process. This allowed the researcher to familiarise himself with the data collected to interpret their meaning. In step two, the initial codes were generated to reduce the data elicited in-depth individual interview process to codes aligned with the predetermined research questions. Then the codes and themes were categorised and labelled. Step three entailed looking for the themes that emerged during in-depth individual interview that could contribute to the present study. In the process, several interesting themes were identified. Then I moved to step four where the identified themes were reviewed by going through them several times to check if all these themes made sense in light of the aims and objectives of this study. The research results were then analysed to answer the research questions to achieve the study’s objectives. I then implemented step five wherein I begin to name the identify themes, all the identified themes were given names to ensure that it become easy to interpret the results. This final step involved writing the final report that entailed linking the various themes that emanated from the participants’ responses. To improve the validity of the theme development, the researcher remained faithful to the participants’ responses. The research assistants validated the data by checking if the presented report reflected the participants response. To achieve reliability in data analysis, the researcher used the participants’ verbatim quotes, and the manuscript was presented to the research assistant who then presented the finding to the participants to ensure that data presented did not misrepresent the participant’s views.

17. Trustworthiness

The issues of credibility, transferability, confirmability and dependability to achieve trustworthiness were taken into account. I worked with vulnerable youths on the Cape Flats before the actual data-collection process and interacted with them about the ways violence on the Cape Flats is affecting their development in the area. Their responses were compared with what the youths interviewed in this study had to say. I made it clear to the participants that they need not participate in this study if they did not feel like doing so. This helped to achieve credibility by not forcing the participants to participate in the study. Regarding transferability, the site of the study, details of the participants and the data-collection procedures were provided to ensure transferability of the findings. To ensure confirmability, verbatim transcripts of the participants’ responses were provided. To achieve dependability, the method used to analyse data was described in detail.

18. Ethical considerations

Ethical clearance (Reference number: FCRE/PE/STD/2019/06) was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee at the Tshwane University of Technology. Ethical considerations are critical in the research process, because they protect the participants from harm that may befall on them during the research process and ensure that participants’ rights are respected. The participants were informed what the study was all about before eliciting their participation. We assured the participants that their real names would not be used in the public domain and that participation in the study was voluntary. First explaining the aim of the study to the participants helped us to get the desired number of appropriate participants, because the majority of the participants were concerned about violence on the Cape Flats.

19. Results and discussion

This study aimed to understand the effect of exposure to community violence on youths from the selected townships on the Cape Flats, in the Western Cape, South Africa as well as to suggest ways of reducing community violence on the Cape Flats. The views of the youths residing on the Cape Flats can be divided into four categories: social withdrawal, sleeping disorders, the lack of participation in the mainstream economy, and difficulty of attaining educational success.

20. Social withdrawal

Positive youth development strives to promote confidence among the young and help them to become active citizens who can contribute to the development of their respective communities. Thus, youths who care about the wellbeing of others in their community are young persons who understand the meaning of active citizenship. Arahanga-Doyle et al. (2019) says advancing positive youth development as an approach that aims to promote the development of young people and they identify building confidence as an important aspect of youth development. However, it was noted that for young people residing on the Cape Flats, their self-confidence, feelings of caring and connection with the community members are affected because they withdraw from social activities because of a range of criminal activities that occur in their communities. Violence is associated with subsequent personality disorders where the victims show no interest in interacting with other people; hence, they withdraw from social activities (Dunre et al., 2013). The incidence of social withdrawal identified in this study was that a few young people stopped participating in community engagement forums such as community policing forums out of fear of that people who engage in criminal activities in their communities will regard them as sell-outs, see them as people who are working with the police and end up killing them. This finding is consistent with the work of Gillian (2015), who agrees that young people disengage from social activities because of the violence in their communities. Most of the young people interviewed in this study indicated that they do not have a life, have no time to participate in social activities like the other youths, because every street is ruled by gangsters, which makes it hard for them to even design intervention programmes that can empower the youth because of the fear of attacks by gangsters.

Youth here in our township have nothing to do after school, some of them have lost hope, and I once started NPO where I assisted youth on how to read after school. Youth used to come and attend our youth development intervention programme. But we also had a problem with gangsters who would sit next to where I was assisting youth to scare them. This behaviour drove young people away from our programmes. Now I fear to do something for the youth in my community or getting involved in community activities fearing for my life and other youth.

The fear expressed above is one raised by most of the young people in this study. As a result of the violent behaviour on the Cape Flats, these youths lose the desire to connect with one another, because they fear for their lives. Scott (2012) show that people living in a violent environment show persistent signs of traumatic stress. This prevents a young person’s positive development and has a negative effect on their ability to connect with the community and care for other people. The organisation Communities and Justice (2019) asserts that being exposed to violence makes community members stop caring for one another. This view was captured in the following response:

My boyfriend was gunned down while I was with him; criminals took my cell phones, wallet, and his car and ran away. Until today no arrest was made; our police are too weak and do not take our safety and security seriously. Since then, I have feared attending community gatherings, and I do not get involved in anything that happens here in Khayelitsha; I look after myself and do most of my things indoors. But I must admit I do feel lonely sometimes.

Clearly, the prevalence of violence on the Cape Flats affects young people’s social activities, often resulting in self-isolation. A few young people (10) interviewed in the study shared the same sentiments by expressing their concern about how violence on the Cape Flats leads to self-isolation among young people and makes them feel lonely, but they do not feel inclined interact with other youths. A study by Communities and Justice (2019) shows that children exposed to violence struggle to interact with other people, prefer to self-isolate, which in turn intensifies young people’s low self-esteem.

The fear expressed above is one of the issues raised by the majority of the young people in this study. As a result of the violent behaviour on the Cape Flats, the youth lose a desire to connect with one another, because they fear for their lives. Scott (2012) show that people living in a violent environment show continued signs of traumatic stress. This prevents a young person’s positive development and has a negative effect on their ability to connect with the community and care for other people. In this regard, Communities and Justice (2019) asserts that being exposed to violence makes community members stop caring for one another. This view was captured in the following response:

My boyfriend was gunned down while I was with him; criminals took my cell phones, wallet, and his car and ran away. Until today no arrest was made; our police are too weak and do not take our safety and security seriously. Since then, I have feared attending community gatherings, and I do not get involved in anything that happens here in Khayelitsha; I look after myself and do most of my things indoors. But I must admit I do feel lonely sometimes.

Regarding the above statement, the prevalence of violence on the Cape Flats affects youth’s social activities resulting in self-isolation. A few young people (10) interviewed in the study shared the same sentiment by expressing their concern about how violence in the Cape Flats promotes self-isolation among young people and makes them feel lonely and not interact with other youth. A previous study, Communities and Justice (2019), shows that children exposed to violence struggle to interact with other people, prefer to self-isolate themselves, which increases young people’s low self-esteem.

21. Lack of participation in the mainstream economy

Young people living in the Cape Flats felt deprived of the opportunity to participate in the mainstream economy because of the criminal activities in their community. Duke et al. (2018) contend that, as a result of violence in the community, some youths engage in anti-social behaviours such as using drugs and committing more crimes:

I am unemployed, and it is difficult for me and other youth living in the Cape Flats to go to town and look for opportunities because taxis are expensive. So, to reach the town, I have to get a bus; using a bus is not a good thing because criminals sometimes just get inside the bus and steal our belonging and the little money that we have that can help us to buy data and look for employment.

Criminals are everywhere on the Cape Flats; anything can happen to you at anytime and anywhere. While you use a bus to go to different areas looking for employment, criminals may be wearing nice clothes so that you do not suspect them as they steal belongings from everyone on the bus.

Young people interviewed in this study mentioned the violence inflicted by some people who pretend to be passengers while they rob people on the bus and that this has deprived the youths of an opportunity to get involved in economic activities on the Cape Flats.

I run a small business selling beauty products on the street. The other day while I was selling, I got robbed by a group of young males. After that incident, I stopped selling my products because I didn’t have money to buy new products.

We have to pay criminals a protection fee; if you refuse, they will kill you. This is a major problem for our youth who want to venture into business because we fear for our lives. Myself, I have decided not to venture into business.

I have seen how business people were killed in my area because they refused to pay protection fees – that discouraged me from starting a business.

The study further revealed a practice on the Cape Flats where criminals demand protection fees from business people. This harms young people’s participation in the local economy. This is a serious matter that needs the Western Cape government and the national SAPS to work together to ensure that such practices do not prevent young people from participating in entrepreneurship. Sheer et al. (2018) corroborate this finding by indicating that people’s economic activities in violent communities are detrimentally affected because they struggle to go to work.

22. Educational achievements

Education is the most important aspect in positive youth development that helps to increase a young person’s confidence. Educational success for most young people living in a poverty-stricken community such as the Cape Flats can help many of them to change their lives. However, the study findings revealed that the level of educational achievement of young people interviewed in this study was affected by the violence that occurred within the school premises and outside schools in their communities.

There was always gang fight in my school, I had been the victim in some of them, and then I had to drop out.

The statement above reflects the extent to which violence on the Cape Flats impacts negatively on young people’s educational achievements and aspirations. Moreover, violence contributes to young people leaving school prematurely and can have a long-lasting impact on the positive development of young people living on the Cape Flats. This finding corroborates the point by Savahl et al. (2013) that violence in communities closer to the school increases academic decline among young people.

I walk to school every day; as a girl walking in a dangerous area is like inviting death. I fear that I can be robbed on my way to school or even be raped. This affects my performance at school because I worry about this matter every day.

Even though the South Africa government has taken a progressive approach by prioritising learners’ safety on the road by providing them with school buses, this study found that some young people still walk long distances distance to go to school. In addition, young people fear walking in these streets, which affects their overall performance as well as their ultimate educational achievement. Young people who fear being attacked on the streets are prone to playing truant and thus fail examinations at the end of the year. An earlier study by Hlatshwayo (2018) confirms this finding by pointing out that the youths fear walking to school with the thought of criminals in their community attacking them.

This study’s findings confirm those of earlier studies conducted in violence-infested areas and their effects on the youth, in particular that exposure to community violence affects the positive development of young people negatively on the Cape Flats. The gap identified in this study was the lack of evidence on the effect of community violence on youths’ economic activities. The current study shows that violence on the Cape Flats affects economic activities among the youth, further fuelling youth unemployment. To address this societal issue, the study proposes that youth workers and social workers apply positive youth development theory to build resilience among youths on the Cape Flats.

The results of this study have implications for policy and youth work practice in South Africa. For instance, the results of the study should prompt youth policy-makers to develop appropriate policies for interventions programme that will mitigate the effects of exposure to community violence on youths. A limitation of the study is that it was conducted only on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape and focused on youths who witnessed violence within their community, falling victim oneself to violent acts, or being subjected to a combination of both experiences. Therefore, the study results cannot be generalised to all youths in other provinces of South Africa. However, other researchers could explore the effect of exposure to community violence on youths with the aim of developing local measures to prevent or alleviate the impacts of such community violence.

23. Conclusion

It is evident that young people on the Cape Flat, Western Cape province, South Africa, witness violence in their everyday lives, and that such community violence affects the development of these young people negatively. Furthermore, young people struggle to develop a social bond or become involved in social activities that seek to promote social cohesion, fearing to become yet another victim of crime in a public space. The extent of the prevalence of community violence exacerbates the situation, as some youths fear setting up a business and are afraid that gangsters may simply destroy it. Therefore, it is vital for the Western Cape government, with the assistance of the national police force to strengthen security and safety on the Cape Flats to ensure that youths are protected and can participate in the mainstream economy and the social activities that seek to promote social cohesion.

24. Recommendations

In this study, I recommend that the community on the Cape Flat should play an active role in addressing violence with the participation of parents, guardians and religious leaders by exposing people who resort to violent behaviour and not protecting them. Furthermore, in partnership with the City of Cape Town Municipality, the Department of Social Development should roll out violence awareness and prevention programmes that seeks to promote social cohesion. The Western Cape province is one of the major tourist destinations in South Africa, but the level of crime prevents youths from benefiting from this and enjoying life to the full. Therefore, the City of Cape Town should consider the situation as a national emergency and put more resources in place to end community violence. The City of Cape Town should also design and implement a trauma intervention programme coordinated by a psychologist to provide trauma intervention for youths who have witnessed violence on the Cape Flats. The Cape Flats remains an undivided community where people are too loyal to their race. The Western Cape government, in partnership with multiple stakeholders in the community and youth development sector, should dedicate its efforts to examining race relationships on the Cape Flats, as this might reduce community violence and promote social cohesion. The City of Cape Town should design and implement a youth skills development hub (YSDH) on the Cape Flats to minimise the influence of violence on youths and provide skills training to youths in an area that can help them enter the business field. This will be great youth empowerment that could minimise the impact of violence. This study found that young school-going youths walk long distances to school and are afraid of being attacked. To address this matter, I propose that the National Youth Development Agency, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, should design a National Youth Service Walk-Learner-to-School Programme for the Cape Flats. This programme will organise several unemployed child and youth care workers and social workers to walk learners to school and then back home after school as part of the safety prevention programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thulani Andrew Chauke

Thulani Andrew Chauke has a doctorate degree in education from Tshwane University of Technology. He is currectly working as a lecturer at the University of South Africa. His research interest are youth development, gender studies, sociology of education.