Cape community fights gang — at deadly cost

After years of terror at the hands of a gang, a community in Worcester, in the Western Cape, decided to fight back.

With rocks, petrol bombs and home-made weapons, residents of Avian Park drove out the Junior Cisko Yakkies this week, but the price was high.

The violence left five dead, five shot and nine homes razed.

After years of kangaroo courts and forced taxes, the community reached its tipping point when an Avian Park resident was shot dead, allegedly by a JCY member.

They claim to have ousted the gang and destroyed drug dens as well as the homes of gang members and their relatives.

As a result, families linked to gangs have gone to stay with relatives or on nearby farms to avoid being targeted.

On Monday there were two murders and four attempted killings, and the situation was so volatile that on Tuesday safety and security MEC Dan Plato was barred from entering the community by police, who said they could not guarantee his safety.

A man who said he was a reformed gangster told the Sunday Times he feared not only the community but members of the gang.

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"If you're an ex-gang member and you're working, the gang now wants to recruit you back ... If you don't come back, then they give you a burger patty — they shoot you twice in the head to make sure you're dead," he said.

The man said the community was fed up with drugs and violence.

"The JCYs have their own court there. If you rob someone you get a hiding. Someone beats you with soap like they do in prison.

"The community started getting tired because some people were just being hacked for no reason."

The community enlisted the help of local groups the Uitbuiters and the Snakebites — made up of mostly young boys — to assist them in the war against the JCYs.

Rival gangs also joined the fight, but the ex-gangster believed it was only so that they could secure the territory for themselves.

A resident of Avian Park, who lived in the area where the first house was burnt down, said former gangsters who joined the community in the cause first had their gang tattoos removed using a hot iron or plastic.

He said people did not trust the police either because they "don't come with [the] truth", and accused the police of shooting a resident in the leg during the carnage.

"People have it hard with [the JCYs] here," the resident said. "They are forced to pay taxes and live in fear. It's chaos, [the JCYs] are creating chaos and now we are tired of living with them. They are a danger [to] our community."

Worcester police spokesman Captain Julian Plaatjies said the situation was under control but "this whole thing can erupt again [at any time]".

Since the violence began, 20 people have been arrested for public violence, and three in connection with the murders.

Plaatjies said the next step was to meet community leaders to try to find a solution, but the presence of gangs was an obstacle.

"All we can do now is maintain high visibility.

"We have asked local radio stations and WhatsApp groups to let people know that they can come to the police, or even stop a police vehicle to be escorted to their homes and back to work."