“Out there is a feeling of hopelessness. Mense weet nie wat om te doen nie. Kan ek uitgaan vandag? Kan ek my kinders skool toe vat en veilig terugkom? Kan ek winkel toe gaan, kan ek werk toe gaan, kan ek kerk toe gaan?”
These were the words of Norman Janjies, the chairperson of the Mitchell’s Plain Community Police Forum (CPF). He was addressing an emergency Mitchell’s Plain Integrated Action (Impact) community dialogue on Saturday 5 July in response to the gang warfare that claimed the lives of several people, most of them young people, last week.
“They (youth) are the perpetrators and the victims,” Janjies said. The engagement called together representatives from civil and government institutions, including correctional services, neighbourhood watches and activists to address the escalated gang warfare. Despite the short notice, about 60 people attended.
No clear stats on shootings
Last week at least six people were killed and six injured in dozens of shootings in several Mitchell’s Plain suburbs. Neighbourhood watch groups say among those killed was a 15-year-old boy on Friday. Lieut Col Malcolm Pojie, commander for the Provincial Media Centre, did not confirm how many people were killed but the commissioner’s office issued a statement last Thursday saying that five people were killed and seven injured.
Pojie said on Monday: “Reinforcements and specialised units have been deployed in affected areas where gang violence erupted last week. Integrated forces will be deployed until calm has been restored in these areas. Most of the reported cases are investigated by specialised units such as the anti-gang unit. We appeal to members of the public who may have any information regarding gang violence or planned gang activities to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or the MySAPS mobile application, anonymously.”
This response meets one of the demands of Saturday’s engagement. The three-hour engagement was facilitated by criminologist Professor Irvin Kinnes, who asked the group to address two questions; what is causing the deadly violence and how could it be stopped? From this, they formulated what Kinnes called a “shopping list” of the priorities, which included getting the shootings to stop immediately, setting up a “nerve centre” at the CPF office at Mitchell’s Plain Police Station and calling an urgent meeting with the national and provincial police commissioners, politicians and the department of justice.
“Whole society” approach
Janjies said: “We, together with other partners, have developed a gang strategy and, of course, we are very disappointed, because it is essentially the community and one or two departments, it’s not the whole of government, and many people have been saying that if you really want to address the problem of gangsterism and gang violence we need a whole of society approach. Otherwise we are going to go nowhere. It’s not just a problem for the police, it’s a problem for all of us and many government departments are lacking in Mitchell’s Plain.”
According to Janjies the CPFs and their partners have made “some headway” with these strategies, but the initiative is coming mostly from the community. “One of the resolutions today that I am appealing for is that we go and see the people that can make a difference, even if it means having an engagement with the president, the premier, the mayor. They must all come to the party because we don’t want to see them when there is a murder and then they come with a food parcel and assistance with the funeral. We want to deal with this issue on an on-going basis.”
Gang violence crisis
Good Secretary-General Brett Heron, who was not at the engagement, agreed with this sentiment. He issued a statement on behalf of the party saying: “According to the police, these attacks were carried out in broad daylight.” He added that the lack of resources and government investment in the Cape Flats is aggravating the violence.
“Residents in these areas live in a city where opportunities are walled off by poverty, geography, and decades of broken promises,” he said. He added: “Cape Town needs a real plan to dismantle the root causes of gang violence – poor schooling, high unemployment, lack of affordable housing near jobs, and the deliberate abandonment of the Cape Flats.” The engagement also tabled several longer term priorities, which included addressing the breakdown in family values and engaging the youth before they are caught in the gangsters’ nets.
“The key idea is, let us build unity and let us build partnerships,” Michael Jacobs, Lentegeur Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson, said. On Monday morning, Mitchell’s Plain Police Station station commander, Brig Brian Muller, described the mood in the area as calm. Jacobs concurred saying the area was quiet “but still tense”.
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