WILLIAM GUMEDE | Reclaim the Cape Flats from parasitic gangs — here’s how to do it

A new more holistic approach, which includes a state of emergency, deploying the army almost permanently and turning the area into a focused special economic development zone, is needed to combat gangsterism on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape.

A state of emergency should be declared in the Cape Flats, and the South African National Defence Force should be permanently stationed in gang-ridden areas, particularly around schools, communal and recreational areas, businesses and state property. Closed-circuit camera surveillance and drones should be extensively introduced in similar ways China has done in many of their cities to detect gang activities and crime.

There needs to be a special inquiry to investigate the main causes, the perpetrators of gang violence and the reasons for police failures in gang violence. The Western Cape continues to record the highest number of gang-related murders in the country, with 263 cases recorded between October and December last year alone, and children increasingly shot or stabbed in gang violence — 79 children were killed between September and November last year. Most of the child murders in the province were gang-related.

Let a new communal culture flourish where gangsters are not seen as heroes by children and the youth

In February this year, four-year-old Davin Africa was shot and killed in his sleep in the Westbank township during gang shootings outside his home. He was the second child of the family killed in gang violence — Davin’s older sister was killed by a stray bullet fired by gangsters in November 2023. Eleven of the top 30 police stations that dealt with murder cases are in the Western Cape.

Let a new communal culture flourish where gangsters are not seen as heroes by children and the youth. Gangs are increasingly recruiting children, arming them, deploying them to commit violence, crime and recruitment. State public services, infrastructure and policing on the Cape Flats must be dramatically scaled up. There has to be state, non-state and community alternative, relevant activities to gangsterism, crime and youth’s lack of purpose.

For many young people there are very little creative activities on the Cape Flats. Township residents who made it big often move out to the suburbs and never return, so local youths have very few present local heroes. Gangs offer belonging and recognition and make youth feel they are men or women.

The rise of gangs is also much to do with the moral breakdown in communities. During the 1980s, Cape Flats youth had gangs, churches, politics and sport as outlets. Sadly, sports, culture and music in government schools have essentially been abolished in the post-apartheid era. Churches have become increasingly corrupt, exploitive and self-serving. Politicians and public servants are no different — corruption, bling and crime — from the publicly despised gangsters.

South African mainstream society is experiencing a moral breakdown, political, traditional, and religious leaders are frequently ensnared in corruption, violence, bling, tribalism and bigotry — leaving room for gangs and their leaders to become alternative “moral” guides.

Gangsters have increasingly funded political parties, joined them or started their own. This has officially made gangsterism “legit”. Imprisonment is increasingly becoming a badge of honour. Many political leaders now equate political leaders, who during the anti-apartheid were jailed for opposing the apartheid government, to the same gangsters going to jail for crime in the post-apartheid era. Communities need coalitions of parents, schools, community organisations, business, traditional and religious organisations, the police, military and local state organisations.

There has to be a society-wide push — in the form of social pact collaborations that include the state, civil society, business, schools, community, religious, cultural, and sport organisations — to rebuild good societal moral values. When the ANC was the majority party in national government, minorities had perceived marginalisation by the government. There are many government departments and state-owned entities that look like mono-ethnic enclaves, with people from only ethnic group or village. This means for many youth from minority groups, even the state appears hostile to their ambitions, hopes and dreams. It is critical that the South African state at all levels is inclusive of all groups and seen to care for South Africans of all ethnicities.

Parents are key to keeping youth out of gangs. South Africa’s black communities have large numbers of single-parent homes, no-parent homes and absentee fathers — environments which predispose youth to joining gangs. There has to be a cultural education programme in black communities to get fathers to take parental responsibility; to get responsible adults males to volunteer as male mentors to youth.

Community work should be reintroduced as a form of punishment for more minor crimes

Gang leaders must be targeted for prosecution and to recover stolen assets. Criminal proceeds from prosecuted gang members must be used to compensate victims to fix public assets damaged by gangs. Community service and prison labour must be reintroduced instead of prison sentences in certain cases, and gangsters must do community service or prison labour to clean, fix local infrastructure and public assets.

Nevertheless, not all poor youths turn to crime. Community work should be reintroduced as a form of punishment for more minor crimes. There is a lack of community cultural, sport and recreational activities for young people in townships. Cultural, sport and recreational activities at black schools are increasingly absent in the post-apartheid-era. Schools must be repositioned to be not only centres of book learning, but also a post-school culture, sports and recreation activities. Civil society, business and cultural organisations must partner with schools to achieve this.

Many potential mentors in the townships have in the post-apartheid era moved to the suburbs. Gangsters with the power, money and influence are increasingly “heroes” for local youth. A basic income grant, linked to entrepreneurial skills development, democratic civic education, aimed at poor families could help soften poverty. There has to an extensive education campaign to teach young people from early on — nursery school — that gangsterism is not cool.

It is critical that the social, economic and educational inequities that drive gangsterism, violence and drug use should be addressed. Companies should be given tax breaks as incentive for establishing themselves in the area — and soldiers should be stationed outside companies to protect them.

Children and youth trying to find positive pathways must be supported by the community, the state and schools. Schools must introduce gang and drug prevention programmes.

After school activities, including cultural, sport and recreation are critical. Educational programmes must foster self-esteem, individual agency and self-love. Morals, ethics and democratic civic education for youths are key — especially where parents are not doing this. But adults with children must also be taught morals, ethics and democratic civic education as conditions to receiving social welfare.

Local community organisations, civil society and business must be involved in these alternative after-school activities. Adults with the time and no school-going children should also be roped into these programmes to mentor. There have to be community programmes for vulnerable youth who have dropped out of school to encourage them to re-enrol.

Communities must establish community police forums. These community organisations must become more interventionist, ensuring that gangsters do not loiter, drink alcohol in public and harassing locals. But the police and military must similarly take action against small public infringements by gang members. South African police and metro police must walk, cycle and drive in neighbourhoods, rather than stand at roadblocks at main roads in the suburbs.

Finally, large local and foreign companies investing in South Africa could be asked then — in lieu of giving BEE shares to political “capitalists”, politicians or career BEE entrepreneurs who solely establish businesses to become BEE partners with private companies or get state contracts — to invest in gang-infested areas, or support youth critical skills programmes or sport, cultural and music development programmes.

• William Gumede is Professor of Practice, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and author of Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg).

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