There was a heavy police presence as protesters moved from one home to the next, chanting “one gangster, one bullet” and “death to the merchants, death to the mongrels”.

Outside the home of an alleged gangster, one protester, wearing a realistic face mask, called over the megaphone: “This is your last warning … This is the community that you are hurting with your drugs and guns. The community is now tired of you.”

Protesters gathered outside a house, allegedly home to members of the Incredibly Gifted Bastards (IGB) gang. “We are here with a message,” said one protester to a woman at the door. “Tell your people, the children that are being shot … it must come to an end.”

“This is your final and last warning,” said another protester. “Your brother is already in the ground … Your brother is dead from shooting children.”

A toddler was shot in Hanover Park on Wednesday and died the next day. Similar marches against gangsterism and drugs have also recently taken place in Stellenbosch and Mitchells Plain. Four murders were reported on Saturday in Mitchells Plain alone.

Hanover Park has long had issues with gang violence. In 2019, the army was deployed to help quell escalating gang violence.

Community activist Patricia Morris says that the police and councillors are doing nothing. She says that shootings in the community are constant, and it isn’t safe for children to walk to school or play outside. She says the community needs to stand up. “Sitting at home is not going to benefit you … we all have to rise to the occasion … Are we forever going to live in fear?”

Zainoneesa Rashid, PAGAD G-Force secretary, said the community had asked them to assist because they don’t have anyone else to turn to. “We’ve had enough and they need to step up … because it can’t go on like this … Our innocent kids can’t be killed,” she said.

Written by Ashraf Hendricks for GroundUp and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.

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Phillips was one of over 100 people who joined an anti-gang and drug march in Mitchells Plain on Sunday 7 September.

The march was held under the banner of People against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) G-Force, a splinter group of PAGAD.

Watched over by a large police contingent, including public order police and metro cops, the protesters marched through Beacon Valley and Eastridge, suburbs where drug houses are alleged to be concentrated in Mitchells Plain.

Protesters shouted Arabic verses and slogans. They also chanted: “One merchant, one bullet; one gangster, one bullet”, and “death” to the Fancy Boys and Americans, two prominent gangs.

Members of the EFF and the PA supported the march.

Phillips said there was a lack of “political will” to deal with the issue. She also blamed absent fathers, poverty and unemployment. She said gangsters have become role models. Youngsters see flashy cars, money and nice clothing and aspire to become gangsters, she said.

Later on Sunday, three men were shot and killed in Tafelsig, the neighbouring suburb. That the killings were “gang-related has not been ruled out”, said a SAPS statement.

Last week, a person was killed and five were wounded in Beacon Valley. In July, gang violence left five people dead in Mitchells Plain. From April to August, SAPS Western Cape seized 800 illegal firearms and 679 suspects were arrested for murder, mostly gang-related.

Zainoneesa Rashid, PAGAD G-Force secretary, said the police were failing and “we need to take back our streets”.

During the march, GroundUp observed police forcing onlookers indoors. They also shut all side roads.

Before the march started, the police ordered people marching to remove their masks. Rashid said that this was dangerous as “some of these people are being targeted by gangsters”.

Rashid said that they are calling on religious leaders to join the fight against gangsterism.

Written by Ashraf Hendricks for GroundUp and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.

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