By Emily Dugan
English Premier League footballers have launched a campaign to banish guns from the whole of South Africa during the World Cup - and in the future.
Every year in South Africa, about 10 000 people are killed with guns. Those who have fallen victim to the country's many guns want the gun-free precincts of Fifa stadiums and fan parks to extend to the rest of South Africa.
Players, including Manchester City and Argentina striker Carlos Tevez and the Ivory Coast's Sol Bamba, are backing a campaign, led by the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa), to extend the gun ban beyond the World Cup. As part of the campaign, British fashion designer Katharine Hamnett has designed a T-shirt carrying the slogan "Don't Shoot: Gun-Free World Cup".
"Guns have no place in sport, or in society," Tevez said. "And if it's possible to have a gun-free World Cup, why stop there? When I was growing up in Buenos Aires I often heard gunshots at night and I had to choose between following my dream, football, or falling into a life of crime. I hope the World Cup will inspire kids in South Africa in the same way."
Thembani Dyle, 35, was shot three times in a car hijacking near Cape Town in 2003.
He cannot see why guns cannot be banned altogether.
"It took months of rehab to get better, and I was one of the lucky ones. I'm happy they're banning guns in the stadiums but I'd rather they banned guns altogether. For the safety of visitors, they should at least have a total moratorium on guns throughout South Africa while the World Cup is on. And why not make it safer for the future too?"
Samuel Modiba, the owner of Alexandra Ladies FC, based in Alexandra, Johannesburg, said: "It's important that guns aren't banned from football stadiums just for the duration of the World Cup. We should work to take them off the streets entirely. It is important that visitors to the tournament are safe, but a more fitting legacy would be safer communities for South Africans.
"That's why we support the ongoing gun amnesty and urge everyone to hand in their weapons to the police before the deadline." - Independent on Sunday