Criminal sanction: Fighting crime is at the forefront of everybody’s minds – s ome do it with thepolice, while some have decided to go it alone
Rehana Rossouw
Father Christopher Clohesy’s life is filled with contradictions: he’s a white man but lives in destitute Mitchell’s Plain in Cape Town; he’s a supporter of Gun Free South Africa but believes in the right to self-defence; and he’s a Ca tholic priest but a committed member of the Muslim-dominated People Against Ga ngsterism and Drugs (Pagad).
“I often find myself between a rock and a hard place,” he says with a wry chuc kle. “Many people find it difficult to accept that I can live quite happily wi th these contradictions.”
Father Christopher, as he is known to his congregation and cohorts in Pagad, s ays he’s in the organisation for the duration. “No matter what Pagad does, the cause will always be a good one. I won’t leave the Catholic Church because a
few priests sexually abuse children, and I won’t leave Pagad because a few mem bers are trigger-happy.”
He says he’s probably so committed to Pagad because he’s an “average white Sou th African” who missed the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1980s, spending most of that decade at school and college.
“Even after I became conscientised, I didn’t take part in the struggle and now that I’m living in a township I feel remorse for that. I see Pagad as an oppo
rtunity for making up for that shortcoming. One cannot live in a township and remain immune to the ravaging effects of gangs and drugs.”
Despite not being involved in the anti-apartheid struggle, Father Christopher draws parallels between tactics used then and Pagad’s campaign today. He is ou traged at the government’s refusal to allow Pagad’s demonstration at the airpo rt a fortnight ago and says the same people in government who are curbing Paga d now had urged their supporters to defy government restrictions on protests i n the 1980 s.
He believes Pagad’s anti-gang and anti-drug campaign is as moral a cause as th e campaign against apartheid and that the only way it can succeed is to pressu re the government into action in the same way the democratic movement acted fo r change.
“The only reason Pagad exists is because the government’s promises have not be en fulfilled,” he says. “The only reason we have an ANC-led government is beca use they made certain election promises and the majority of South Africans bel ieved them.
“They promised a better life for all, but from my perspective things have got worse. They certainly haven’t won the battle against crime and have made thing s worse for poor people struggling to make an honest living. The prices of eve rything have gone up and very few jobs have been created.
“I am very doubtful about a democracy where protests are deemed illegal, I am very doubtful about a democracy where one has to go to the authorities for per mission to protest against them. In a democracy people have the right to prote st wherever they want without being baton-charged by the police.”
He says refusing Pagad’s demonstrations on the grounds that they would have a negative impact on the Western Cape’s tourism industry is not a good enough re ason. “It is precisely those people we want to target – the people who are lur ed to South Africa on the grounds that it is a peaceful paradise, while people are dying in the townships. We want those people to take the message back to
their coun tries that all is not well in the new South Africa and very little has changed for ordinary people.”
On the question of Pagad members carrying arms on their marches and using them with frightening regularity, Father Christopher says he belongs to the anti-g
un campaign and hates guns.
“But we live in a country where people are allowed to buy firearms and carry t hem for self-defence. The government tells us we cannot put ourselves delibera tely into a situation of danger and then demand protection from police. The re ason we are in those situations when we march on dealers is precisely because the police are not performing this task.
“I won’t deny there are elements in Pagad who thrive on confrontation, who nee d to be constantly at war. But they are the minority, there is no plot to take armed men on the streets to open fire on the police.
“The government must realise that the more it curbs us, the more angry and det ermined we are getting. Aslam Toefy [Pagad’s chief commander] tried to tell hi s people to disperse at the airport, but they were so irate they wouldn’t list en to him.”
Father Christopher says while police “quite happily” arrest Pagad members and raid their homes, they are seemingly reluctant to mete out the same treatment to gangsters and drug dealers pointed out to them weekly by Pagad. And he poin ts out that while the government has money to host the Olympic Games, it is un able to employ more policemen to keep communities safe.
“Pagad will continue to exist, and I predict other organisations will spring u p as well, as long as the government continues to break its promises to the pe ople who gave them a mandate to govern.
“We are not anti-government. We are anti-incompetence, anti-inefficiency and a nti-corruption. There are no other options in terms of political parties to le ad us. We have no other option than keeping the present government and pressur ing it to do its job better than it is right now. How else can we do this exce pt by continued protests?”
Father Christopher acknowledges Pagad’s growing militancy has started to alien ate some of its supporters. Riyaad Williams is one of them. A gung-ho Pagad su pporter since August, he has now turned his back on the organisation.
“I wasn’t a senior member of Pagad, but after they killed [Rashaad] Staggie, I was drawn to it because I was excited that finally someone was standing up an
d prepared to do something about the scourge of gangsterism and drug dealing,” Williams says.
“I could defend Pagad to my relatives and friends after Staggie was killed. Ve ry few people mourn for scum like that, he deserved what he got. But things go t badly out of hand around the time of the Waterfront demonstration last month and I pulled out.”
He says he does not regret the time he spent with Pagad, marching on alleged d ealers’ homes and giving them ultimatums to stop their activities. The camarad erie gave him a sense of hope that life in the new South Africa could get bett er.
“I know what the effects are of crime in South Africa. Three years ago one of my friends was killed by a gangster during a robbery. The murderer has never b een caught. So when Pagad took action, I was there like a shot.
“Marching at night, watching the dealers hide from us gave me a sense of power , a sense that there were people who were going to make life better for everyo ne. Islam is a very militant religion, its adherents are tightly woven into a strong community and when they take on a problem, man, you better believe they ‘re in it till the end.
“Muslims are the only people in South Africa right now who give a damn about t he underdogs. Look at the support given to the Bosnians – shiploads of food an d medicine went there. The same goes to the people in north Africa who are sta rving. The government does nothing, the Muslims organise themselves within day s to get relief to them.”
But Williams says the deaths of two Pagad supporters left him stunned, and he began questioning the focus of the organisation. While he supported the protes ts at the Waterfront, he believed it should not have gone ahead at all costs.
“Pagad kept talking about martyrs and heroes. In Islam we believe that if you die a martyr you go straight to paradise. But is a martyr someone who just got caught in the crossfire? Do Pagad’s leaders take responsibility for the blood
on their hands?
“I believe the campaign against drugs and gangs is a good one, but very little is going to be achieved if Pagad keeps on battling with the police. They’ve l
ost sight of who the enemy is. It’s not the police and the government, it’s th e dealers and the gangsters.
“There are a lot of conservative Muslims in the Cape. They didn’t toyi-toyi in the past and they’re not going to fight the police now. It’s not going to hel
p Pagad at all if they are killed or behind bars. It should rather campaign in a way that makes sure the crooks find themselves behind bars.”