More than 300 children have been reported to be victims of gunshots this year as gang violence grips the Western Cape.
The provincial health department in the Western Cape said it had recorded 58 gun-related deaths among children between January and June this year.
A number of areas, including Hanover Park, Manenberg, Eerste River, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, and Nyanga, have seen children caught in the crossfire.
The department reported 333 firearm-related injuries among children, with children as young as one year old killed by stray bullets between January and June 2024.
While it does not yet have the full picture of 2024 to compare to previous years, it can compare child homicides due to firearms from 2022 to 2023.
The department added that in its figures from 2022, 83 child fatalities were brought on by firearms, and in 2023, this figure increased to 89 fatalities.
Gun Free SA (GFSA) spokesperson, Claire Taylor, said, “While the Western Cape Department of Health notes the burden of gun violence on health services, we also need to recognise the huge cost of gun violence on families and communities, which is even more extreme when children are hurt or killed.
“We have to focus on gun violence prevention, and GFSA urges the Western Cape government to urgently hold a child safety summit where all stakeholders can come together to identify proactive solutions to stop children being killed, injured, threatened and traumatised by gun violence.
In recent months, there have been quite a number of reported cases where children fall victim to stray bullets in townships around Cape Town.
In May this year, Daily Voice reported that a family in Gugulethu was left traumatised after two siblings, Loyola Gwadiso, 8, and her one-year-old brother Khanide, were killed.
Earlier this month, the streets of Khayelitsha ran red with blood as eight people, including three children, were shot dead in Khayelitsha.
sibuliso.duba@inl.co.za