The Chrysalis Academy in Tokai held a youth workshop on violence prevention last week.
Eight young people from across the city took part in the four-day Youth Hub Ambassador (YHA) programme in self-awareness, coaching and mentoring, protocols, report writing, administration skills and effective communication.
They will be deployed at youth hubs across the province, including Kraaifontein, Nyanga, Philippi, Hanover Park, Mitchell’s Plain, Samora Machel, Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and Harare.
According to Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz, YHA is one of several violence-prevention programmes supporting the Western Cape Safety Plan to halve murders in the next decade.
The ambassadors will act as role models for the youth, extending the reach of the Chrysalis Academy and helping it develop young leaders.
The academy is a provincial government youth-development project.
Its three-month residential programme for 18 to 25-year-olds includes life skills, time spent outdoors and work-readiness training. The academy is open to youth who have at least Grade 9, no criminal record and live in the Western Cape. Close to 10 000 youth have graduated from the academy since 2000.