Adèle Kirsten

Adèle Kirsten has been a non-violent, social justice activist for almost 40 years in South Africa. She became active in the anti-apartheid movement in the late 70’s as a result of her opposition to the injustices of the apartheid system, the growing militarisation of the society at that time as well as her support for those who refused to serve in the apartheid army. She was a founding member of Gun Free South Africa (GFSA) and became its Director in March 1995. She was responsible for helping build the organisation into a national NGO, which together with the Gun Control Alliance, played an important role in advocating for stricter gun laws in South Africa. In November 2000, the Firearms Control Act was passed. Adèle was named the South African Woman of the Year in 2000 under the media and communications category. Adèle left GFSA in June 2002 and in 2008 her book on the history of GFSA- A Nation without Guns? The Story of Gun Free South Africa was published by UKZN Press. She continued to work in the field of small arms control and was appointed to several advisory boards, notably the UK Department for International Development Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative as well as the OECD Advisory panel on armed violence reduction. She has published several papers on strategies to reduce gun violence including an evaluation of firearms amnesties in South Africa. Adèle joined the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation as its Director in 2008 until end 2010. She was research coordinator and co-author of The smoke that calls: Insurgent citizenship, collective violence and the struggle for a place in the new South Africa (a case study of community protests and xenophobic violence). She joined GFSA again in 2016 as its Director until March 2025. She was appointed to the Marikana Panel of Experts (2016-18) by the President to provide input into and guide the review of the use of less-lethal weapons by the Public Order Police (POP) units in South Africa .