Tangeni Amupadhi
Gangs have triumphed in Westbury – Johannesburg’s equivalent of the Cape Flats ganglands – after promises of big business and politicians have come to naught.
In recent weeks four men have been slain in gun fights – an event familiar to this dirt-poor community which, for decades, has enjoyed the notoriety of having South Africa’s highest mandrax consumption rate.
Westbury’s rows of drab grey council houses and flats have for decades been a no-go zone after dark. With the exception of the drug barons, their clients and the gangsters who do their dirty work, very few enter this township south-west of Johannesburg. For 40 years the Fast Guns, Varados, the Spaldings, Majimbos and FBI gangs have ruled supreme.
The rich pickings from the drug trade – they sell dagga, mandrax and, more recently, crack-cocaine or gafief – have helped support the area’s football teams and kept starvation from many doors. In turn the gangs have spawned several smaller offshoots, and younger members now control a lucrative trade in stolen cars and chop-shops.
The community claims the police have turned a blind eye for decades because the drug money has kept their palms well greased. Two years ago, the station commander of the police station in neighbouring Sophiatown, under whose jurisdiction Westbury falls, was changed in an effort to fight crime. But even this seems to be just one more plan that has not worked.
“Quick-fix solutions won’t work,” says Glen Steyn, executive director of Conquest for Life, an organisation working with the youth to try to “change the mindset” of Westbury residents. Many young people regard gangsters and druglords who drive luxury cars and live in large houses as their idols.
Steyn says plans to fight gangsterism in the area have always been ad hoc: more police are brought in, and more promises are made by businesses, politicians and individuals. “They run here when the press is around and make promises as long as they can get mileage,” he says.
In the run-up to the 1994 elections, Westbury was fiercely contested by the National Party and the African National Congress, both of which made grand promises of restoring peace and bringing prosperity.
Among those who stand accused of failing to deliver on their promises to the community are the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa), the government and companies which run factories adjacent to Westbury.
But they all have explanations for the lack of delivery. JSE representative Suzette Plantema denies promises were ever made by the JSE to set up various projects, including a vocational training centre.
She admits, though, that the JSE said it would help the community find money for programmes to keep youths off the streets. This has not happened.
Chris Day of Nocsa says the pledge it made two years ago to get involved through sport still stands, but it is waiting for the provincial Department of Safety and Security to get involved.
ANC representative Fahdiel Moosa concedes several government programmes have “fizzled out because of lack of interest” from schools, but adds they will be restarted.
Several companies in the area, including Nampak, Tastic Rice, Phillips and Anchor Yeast, say their business is negatively affected by gangsterism. Tastic Rice’s depot manager, Larry Slabbert, says workers are afraid to make deliveries in Westbury. Other companies say their goods trucks are hijacked in the area, but none is making a concerted effort to deal with the problem.
Fuel Road, which divides Westbury from its more affluent neighbours, has become a hijacking hot spot where, in broad daylight, the Truckadore skollies hijack entire trucks or pull goods from them.
Despite the fact that it is surrounded by dense industrial areas, Westbury has an unemployment rate of more than 70% – among the highest in the country.
Steyn believes this is because coloured people are left out: “It’s hard to find a job because of affirmative action. Companies say they want blacks only. Some of these people are selling drugs because they cannot find jobs.”