Cape Town gang buster leader Muhammed Ali “Phantom” Parker is not the caped crusader his nickname suggests, but a man who has tasted death and is prepared to die for the cause he believes in, friends and relatives said this week.
Parker was shot in the chest at the siege of gang leader Rashaad Staggie’s home last Sunday, and is reportedly in hiding following police threats to arrest People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) leaders on charges of sedition.
He has threatened to embark on “suicide bombing” missions, claiming he will strap explosives to his body on visits to gang leaders.
A community crime activist, who attended several meetings in the run-up to Pagad’s militant campaign, said he was astounded by Parker’s zeal. “When that man says he will do something, the city better sit up and take note.”
According to mythology, Parker’s conversion to anti- drug zealot came after he was set upon by thugs, beaten to within inches of his life and tossed into a river to drown while on a trip to India eight years ago.
Rescued by a passerby who took him to a police station where he remained fever-ridden for several months, Parker embarked on his mission to stamp out crime.
“I saw him shortly after he returned and heard his story. He said he knew what it felt like to die,” said a friend.
“I think what is motivating him now is that he fought for his own soul and won. He wants to ensure that other young people don’t succumb to drugs and suffer the way he did.”
Parker’s anti-gang sentiments were also fuelled by blasphemous statements made by Rashied Staggie about two years ago when the Muslim community began rallying against drugs. (Staggie said he would naai Allah.)
Although his friends said he was not a fervent Muslim, he was committed to God and tried to live as moral a life as possible.
“He is a moral person and his morals are driving him to do what he is doing today. He is a charismatic leader and is certainly the driving force behind Pagad,” said a relative.
“Most importantly, he has guts. He’s not the kind of leader who hides in the background while others take action. When he says something has to be done, he goes out himself to make sure it is done properly.”