Gang violence on the Cape Flats continues to wreak havoc on communities, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced over the weekend that more than 26 people were murdered in various parts of the city.
The figures include eight people shot dead in a shebeen in an extortion related shooting in Marikana, Philippi on Saturday 17 January.
The president condemned the violence on the Cape Flats and said communities can expect “stronger law enforcement and increased police visibility” to stabilise affected communities and reduce the risk for more violence.
ALSO READ: Cape Flats violence claims over 30 lives in deadly shootings
People’s Post spoke to Dr Guy Lamb, director of the Conflict Peacebuilding and Risk Unit in the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University, to gain insight into the escalating violence.
Lamb argues that socio-economic challenges, including unemployment, poverty, and school dropouts, leave young men susceptible to gang involvement.
“A lot of the issues is about the high levels of inequality, lack of meaningful employment for young men in poorer areas, until we are able to solve that problem and address that inequality I don’t think we are going to do much on the gang violence issue.”
Lamb says extortion economies, such as those linked to shebeens, significantly contribute to violence in communities.
He believes the Covid-19 lockdown triggered a wave of extortion as criminals sought alternative ways to generate income.
“Part of the problem with extortion at the moment is that there’s lots of different players within the sector. And they compete with each other to extort money from businesses, early childhood development centres, hawkers, traders within townships and the informal sector are targeted.”
Lamb adds that criminals use violence to intimidate victims into paying, while also demonstrating that they are more powerful than rival extortion groups.
“Violence is a lot lower when there is a dominant group that’s engaging in the extortion and in that way the dominant group provides a degree of protection.”
Lamb says the Western Cape government has adopted one of the most progressive approaches to gang and interpersonal violence through its safety plan, which aims to improve coordination across departments, but its ability to address immediate violence remains limited.
He adds that while national crime and violence prevention strategies exist, they are under-resourced and poorly coordinated, resulting in an over-reliance on policing rather than addressing the root causes of violence.
Lamb identifies access to firearms as a key driver of violence.
“A lot of gangs have access to firearms more than previous years. It creates a massive demand for more guns. The only way to compete with other gangs is if you have guns. This is driving thefts and robberies related to those who possess firearms.”
Lamb says the violence causes serious harm to communities.
Meanwhile mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has urged the national government to immediately expand the City’s policing powers, citing rising gang, gun, and drug violence.
He made the call after Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia acknowledged that the police are struggling to control gangs in the province.
“We call on the minister to end the delay in granting more policing powers for our City officers to investigate crime. City police are immediately ready to build prosecution-ready case dockets to secure more convictions for gang, gun, and drug crime,” said Hill-Lewis.
