Building a peaceful society

Carole Rakodi describes the work and challenges facing the Quaker Peace Centre in Cape Town, South Africa

by Carole Rakodi 12th October 2012

The Quaker Peace Centre (QPC) in Cape Town was set up by Cape Western Monthly Meeting in 1988 during some of the worst conflicts of the apartheid years in South Africa. It was a time when thousands of black and coloured inner city residents were forcibly relocated to distant townships to achieve racial segregation. Although apartheid ended in 1994, and much progress has been made in building a ‘new South Africa’ that is prosperous and socially inclusive, the country is still highly unequal, socially divided and violent.