How prioritising education in South Africa can prevent violence

The Seven Passes Initiative in Touwsranten, South Africa, provides free after-school meals, homework support, and youth development to prevent violence. Established in 2007 to counter gang-related clashes on farms, the programme has helped eliminate local farm violence and enabled over 20 participants to attend university. Despite its success, the document notes that early violence prevention remains severely underfunded in South Africa, receiving less than 1% of combined national and provincial Department of Social Development budgets.

• The Seven Passes Initiative was established in 2007 in Touwsranten to address youth violence and makeshift gang clashes on surrounding vegetable and dairy farms. The programme's founders identified boredom, a lack of academic support, and an absence of role models as the catalysts for violence, concluding that investing in community building and youth support was a more sustainable long-term solution than farm patrols.
• The programme provides comprehensive support to more than 80% of primary and high school learners in Touwsranten. Services include free daily balanced meals, homework assistance provided by educational facilitators, and weekly activities involving sport, play, and creativity. The facilitators' roles are subsidised by the Department of Community Safety’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), which provides local community members with work experience.
• The initiative has had a measurable impact on local violence and educational attainment. Farm violence in the area is now reported as nil, and more than 20 young people from the programme have gone on to attend university. To address aggressive behaviour stemming from home environments, a positive parenting programme was also introduced in 2013.
• Despite the effectiveness of early intervention, such initiatives are underfunded in South Africa. Less than 1% of the combined national and provincial Department of Social Development budgets are allocated to early-intervention services and violence prevention.

APA

Parker, C. (n.d.). How prioritising education in South Africa can prevent violence. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/how-prioritising-education-in-south-africa-can-prevent-violence

Chicago

Parker, Cassidy. How prioritising education in South Africa can prevent violence. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/how-prioritising-education-in-south-africa-can-prevent-violence.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parker |first1=Cassidy |title=How prioritising education in South Africa can prevent violence |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/how-prioritising-education-in-south-africa-can-prevent-violence |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parkerndhow, author = {Parker, Cassidy}, title = {{How prioritising education in South Africa can prevent violence}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/how-prioritising-education-in-south-africa-can-prevent-violence}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }