Integrated Response to Community Conflict

Objectives

• promote peace awareness by enabling people to talk about personal conflict issues and those of their neighbours, be willing to have them resolved peacefully and help their neighbours to have their conflicts also resolved in a peaceful manner in the communities of Guguletu, Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Manenberg

The conflict handling manual has been updated in collaboration with UMAC and the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) resulting in a more interactive and learner-friendly document.

MEDIATION SERVICE

Meetings took place with the mediators to discuss recent mediation work, report writing, Aids workshops and mediation training at the Khayelitsha garden.

Nyanga

The Nyanga Pilot Project Mediation Service continues its work with members of the community. Most of the cases take place in the community and not at the office, which shows that mediators are becoming known in their communities as people approach them directly for help. One mediator has significantly reduced the level of conflict in her street - residents approach her to intervene in disputes as she has become a well-respected dispute resolver in her community.

It is quite a challenge for the mediators, who need to provide for their families and provide a service for the community at the same time, not to be remunerated. Most are unemployed and understandably take whatever work they can find, often at the cost of their mediator duties and consequently the Mediation Service. QPC will need to address this issue. Many mediators have very low literacy levels. A basic literacy programme has been introduced in Nyanga.

Guguletu

The Guguletu Mediation Service has been adversely affected by HIV/Aids related illnesses within the families of the mediators. A long-awaited container will shortly be set up for the mediation service office.

Khayelitsha

A launch of mediation training took place in Khayelitsha to teach gardeners and church members mediation skills so that they can resolve conflicts peacefully within their organizations and communities. The mediators in Khayelitsha face considerable challenges as criminal activities are escalating in the area. Mediators can often not intervene because of the criminal nature of the conflict, which include murder, rape of women and children, hijacking, drugs and the use of dangerous weapons. Twenty-six mediators from Khayelitsha completed a mediation course and received their certificates during a graduation ceremony.

Manenberg

A number of mediation training workshops took place at the Manenberg Project for a group of self-motivated mediators, on whose initiative the Mediation Service was implemented. The majority of participants were women, and they are anxious to create income-generating projects similar to the gardens in Nyanga, Guguletu and Khayelitsha. Progress has been made in this area with the setting up of a sewing project. There is a strong need for the Manenberg mediators to be able to receive trauma counselling, as Manenberg is an area particularly affected by violence, and traumatic experiences may surface during mediation.

We are hopeful that the Mediation Service will have a great impact there.

Mediators from all four centres participated in a workshop to produce a work plan for the Mediation Service for 2004.