A spike in gang violence on the Cape Flats, particularly Ottery and Grassy Park has resulted in an influx of children needing and receiving trauma counselling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brandon Eckardt, CEO of Life Changers Foundation, said more children are entering their doors to receive counselling due to witnessing violence in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor 17 years our focus as an organisation has been to assist drug users, gang members or those struggling with prostitution. We were used to seeing or counselling people in their 20\u2019s and then later it was teenagers but now it\u2019s mostly children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a trained social worker, who worked with prisoners in Pollsmoor, who is now working full time at the Life Changers Foundation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eckardt says although visible policing is needed in the area a more urgent need is social workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough we do need more policing in the area, what is actually a greater need is social workers to assist children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the perpetrators are often also children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have boys who pull a gun, walk up to someone, look them in the eye and pull the trigger. The children who are pulling the trigger do not need Pollsmoor, they need social workers. We need to address the issues before that child pulls the trigger.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eckard says often children from the ages of seven and eight have witnessed a shooting or a body lying in the road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sad to see what is happening, the Cape Flats is messed up. We need to fix and address the issues. We have shifted our focus to trauma counselling for people, especially children, who has witnessed a shooting or an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur children on the Cape Flats see a lot of violence and many become desensitized to seeing it every day. We see a lot more people needing counselling and we are mainly counselling children.\u201d A spike in gang violence on the Cape Flats, particularly Ottery and Grassy Park has resulted in an influx of children needing and receiving trauma 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