Kicking the gangs and drugs

The school, in a gang-infested Cape Flats suburb, resembles Pollsmoor Prison.

Woodlands Primary is choked by double rows of barbed wire, security gates and burglar bars so dense they block the sun from shining into the classrooms.

But after lessons, the school's overgrown sports field in the suburb of Heideveld, echoes with the thud of balls being kicked by members of a junior soccer academy run by an ex-gangster determined to rid the community of crime - one player at a time.

The Great Commission United (GCU) soccer academy was founded nearly 10 years ago by Mario van Niekerk.

And a documentary film called Mario and the Rude Boys screened at the Encounters Film Festival in Cape Town has now put the academy on the map.

Van Niekerk hopes that the film will change people's perceptions of the Cape Flats and gangsterism.

"GCU is not just about football, it's about giving youngsters a chance to experience something other than drugs and gangs," said Van Niekerk.

"We have other activities such as rope skipping for girls, and a feeding scheme for kids who come to school hungry. We offer life skills training and mentorships for those trapped in the cycle of gangs and drugs," he said.

Toddlers in threadbare clothes run along the field where the young players practise. ". The little ones, have nowhere else to go. We even pay creche fees for some of them," said Van Niekerk.

The film examines Mario's life and that of the coaches and the players in the academy. It details their struggle against gangsterism, drug abuse and poverty, and culminates in a match between them and a local gang, The Rude Boys.

Van Niekerk set up the match after observing the talent of a Rude Boy player called Pitte, wanting to save him from the clutches of drug lords. But life after the credits finished rolling has remained tough for Pitte and The Rude Boys.

Van Niekerk last week said that poverty had forced Pitteto work as a taxi guard, and the rest of the players were still "out there looking for direction".

"People have no sympathy for gangsters. I think that if they knew what boys on the Cape Flats have to go through every day, they would have a different attitude. Our boys are constantly targeted and pressurised by gangs," he said.

Shafiek White, 25, coaches the U15 team. He spent five years in prison, but turned around his life with help from Van Niekerk.

"I became involved with the Americans gang at 15," he said. In 2004 he was convicted of two attempted murders and, aged 20, sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"Mario did not give up on me. He visited me in prison and convinced me that there was another way. "

Darryl Smith, a PSL footballer, has close ties to GCU. He credits the team for turning his life around after he became a drug addict.

"We teach the boys discipline and dedication. We're an amateur team with a professional attitude," said Van Niekerk. "Our dream is to make it all the way to the PSL."