A community is where you feel at home. It’s where you will find love, peace, care, protection and happiness. You should never feel scared or unsafe, you always feel protected. In my community I do not feel happy enough to say it is safe because I feel scared, threatened and I’m worried of what might happen.

When it’s dark I get scared to go to the shop or go to my neighbour’s because of the criminals that are roaming around and robbing people. It is not healthy to feel unprotected or in danger in your own space. For instance my neighbour’s flat screen TV was stolen when they were at work and there is enough evidence for them to go to jail, but the criminals haven’t been arrested yet, which makes it hard for the community to feel safe because we are wondering who’s next.

In my community there are people who are selling drugs such as dagga, nyaope, tik and so on. They are even selling alcohol to underage children, which means corruption is in people’s minds. I sometimes think my community is the worse place to feel safe and I just wish police would find those criminals and arrest them. This affects us, the youth, because now we get involved in smoking, drinking and all other bad behaviours.

In my community there are criminals that invite in their friends who we do not know. These friends make us feel unsafe because we do not know what they are capable of. I do not feel safe going with a stranger, even if they don’t harm me, but I still feel unsafe and in danger of being kidnapped.

If you are going somewhere you have to go with sister or friend to avoid danger. People get killed if they have evidence that can help the police to catch the criminals. The young ones get raped by their neighbours or even their siblings.

At times I want my siblings to come and visit me because of the situation in my community. But I fear for them because they may be in danger. In my community there are a lot of gangsters and our elders cannot do anything about it, which makes me feel more unsafe.

People get killed every day. The worst thing is, no one is getting arrested by the police. This scares us. This troubles us so much. We trust no one who is a stranger. And, it means that we’re afraid to help anyone we do not know.

How do you feel protected in a community where people get murdered? It is not a way for people to live if they are to be happy. It scares me when I can’t even tell my older sibling about someone who is threatening me. In my community there is no assurance that you are safe, so I feel unsafe and in danger in my community.