The world’s first playground encased in bulletproof glass is to be built in guncrime-ravaged South Africa.
The project, designed by safety campaigners Gun Free SA, is set to be built in Mitchells Plain township, in Cape Town, as new figures emerged on shooting victims in the country.
The group told local media: “The Bulletproof Park project comes as a response to the alarming statistics of firearm-related deaths in South Africa.”
They added: “In 2022-23 alone, over 11,300 people were killed with a firearm in a 12-month period, with almost ten per cent of those deaths being gang-related, and many victims being young children shot by stray bullets.”
Images of the park’s design show it has the usual slides, monkey bars and climbing towers.
But it is encased in thick, armoured ballistic glass that can resist any firearm while 24-hour CCTV cameras monitor the children playing.
And youngsters can only get in through an airlock-style door with a scanner that establishes their age and identity before allowing them through.
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Gun Free SA is also reportedly developing bullet-proof vests specially designed for young children.
Local media reports that Abie Isaacs, head of the Cape Flats Safety Forum. Is set to be briefed on the plan imminently.
Gun Free SA director, Adele Kirsten, said that Beacon Valley neighbourhood in Mitchells Plain has been earmarked as the park’s location.
But the plan has shocked some social media users, reports local media.
One said: “Mitchells Plain launched a bulletproof park for kids. I am so confused.”
While another added: “Somehow I don’t think bulletproofing playgrounds is how you fix your crime problem.”
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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