A police source working on gang-related activities in Hanover Park and Manenberg told the M&G: “The young ones don’t accept [gang] regulations and jump camp very easily.”
(David Harrison)
Discord among the members of two of the largest gangs on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape has intensified, underlining the disintegration of hierarchical systems typical to these criminal groupings.
Infighting between members of the Hard Livings and Americans gangs reached a crescendo last week — prompting police to be on high alert — after alleged Hard Livings hitman Imeraan “Poerang” Etalla, was killed by his own on the gang’s turf in Manenberg.
Etalla, 39, succumbed to “severe injuries to his legs” on the way to the Heideveld emergency centre on 12 February, Manenberg police spokesperson Captain Ian Bennett confirmed. But sources close to the incident said Etalla was beaten to death by members of his own gang.
A close acquaintance of Etalla’s told the Mail & Guardian that his gang members had had little choice but to kill him, because: “If they didn’t kill him, he would have come back [and killed them] one by one”.
The acquaintance believes Etalla’s violent nature was fuelled by a childhood grudge after he witnessed his father’s murder by four rival gang members allegedly linked to the Jesters group as a young boy in 1994. When he became a Hard Livings member, he avenged his father’s death by killing all those he held responsible.
Shootings continue in the area despite a gunfire detection system, known as ShotSpotter, having become fully operational again in Hanover Park in December.
Etalla allegedly carried out most of the Hard Livings hits but managed to evade arrest multiple times, a police source told M&G.
According to the acquaintance, Etalla — who was released from Pollsmoor prison two years ago for attempted murder — got into an argument with members of the gang and could no longer be trusted: “They couldn’t read him, and they were scared he (was) going to kill them.”
“He would go on killing sprees, he was living a life so exciting for him, he thought he was in a movie … He was out of control because of the drugs he was using,” the acquaintance added.
In red-zoned Hanover Park, a stone’s throw from Manenberg, six Americans members were murdered by two of their own between late January and 5 February. The shootings, according to the Hanover Park community policing forum (CPF) spokesperson Kashiefa Mohammed, took place on Americans’ territory.
“It is a fight for power,” explained Anthony Daniels, former CPF chair of 25 years.
Within the Americans group — thought to be the largest gang in Hanover Park — members are understood to be fighting over leadership roles, as this means control over the drug trade and, ultimately, money for the position holder.
“There is no control, it is so heavy,” Daniels said of the substance abuse in the area.
Friction among gang members is also due to crumbling hierarchical structures.
In July 2021, Ralph Haricombe, a former member of the 28 prison gang turned community worker, gave the M&G a glimpse into how well-structured and organised gangs were in the 1970s. Then, members wore tailor-made suits and there was less violence, with gangs operating according to a hierarchy.
Helping out: Sabastian Haricombe (left) and his father Ralph (right) now distribute children’s shoes to schools in the Cape Town area. Sabastian’s mother, Marta, stands between them. (David Harrison/M&G)
Nearly two years after Haricombe’s comments, and dozens of gang-related deaths later, Daniels shares his sentiments: “The new kids, they all want to be leaders. They all want to be in charge.”
A police source working on gang-related activities in Hanover Park and Manenberg told the M&G: “The young ones don’t accept [gang] regulations and jump camp very easily.”
According to the source, new gangsters cross to another gang if there is more money on offer there. While jumping camp and conveying critical information to the opposition can cost them their lives, gang members tend to take firearms and ammunition with them when they leave the gang and this fuels infighting, the source added.
Having had to facilitate peace talks between rival gangs over several decades, Daniels concurred it was different from negotiating for peace between members of the same gang.
Daniels — whose brother-in-law is in the top structure of the Americans group in Hanover Park — was talking to the M&G on Americans’ turf minutes before a community march against gang violence on Sunday, 5 February.
In January, community members who meticulously keep track of criminal activities across Hanover Park counted 12 firearm murders and four stabbing murders. In the same month, there were 13 attempted firearm murders and three attempted stabbing murders.
Shootings continue in the area despite a gunfire detection system, known as ShotSpotter, having become fully operational again in Hanover Park in December. The technology detects gunshots, locates where shootings have occurred and sends out an alert within seconds to law enforcers.
Last week, multiple shootings echoed across Hanover Park and Manenberg, injuring over five people, including a woman who was inside her house and hit by a stray bullet.
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