Gang-related shootings and attacks on the Cape Flats are on the increase yet again, and gang bosses warn that more violence can be expected as a result of large numbers of gang members being released from prison over the past few months.
The department of correctional services said recently that about 20 000 prisoners are released every year after serving only half their sentences, sometimes even less, as part of the early parole programme.
In the Western Cape, hundreds of prisoners have been released on the early parole programme over the past year. All prisoners, irrespective of the crimes they have committed, qualify for early release if the parole board so decides.
In the past five weeks at least six people have died and about 27 been injured in gang warfare on the Cape Flats. Most of these attacks have occurred in the Kensington area, Hanover Park and Elsiesriver.
One of the senior American gang leaders in Hanover Park, Kat September (not his real name), said three people have been shot dead and at least 20 injured in the past month.
The two rival gangs in Hanover Park are the Americans and the Ghetto Kids, with members of the Number gang (the 26s, 27s and 28s, which are historically prison gangs) playing an important role here.
”There’s big shit brewing. We’re all preparing ourselves for heavy violence over December. A whole lot of senior Number gang leaders have been released over the last couple of months and they need to show that they’re still important and dangerous. Gangsters and murderers are taken to prison and things calm down, but they’re back in the community very quickly — and now they’re angry and need to prove themselves. It’s very tense here,” said September. Rival gangs are fighting over turf and controlling the massive drug market in Hanover Park.
Meanwhile, residents in Elsiesriver say nightly shootings and killings have flared up again. ”I know of at least three young men who have been shot and killed in the past month,” said Salie Norman. ”Some senior 28 gang leaders came back from prison over the past couple of months and we heard that the peace accord between the 28s and the Americans is off. They’re fighting about who sells his drugs where. We will have a bloody Christmas again,” he said.
The Mail & Guardian spoke to two top gang bosses in Cape Town who both deny they are gangsters, but have complained about the recent increase in violence on the Flats.
In Kensington the alleged leader of the Americans, Igshaan Davids — or Sanie the American, as he is known — survived an assassination attempt while dropping three of his children off at school 10 days ago. Davids, who denies he is a gang boss and calls himself a businessman, says there is ”definitely a new spate of violence” on the Cape Flats and in Kensington. ”There’s tension in the air. Apart from the attack on my life, we know of at least four other people who have been shot and killed in a couple of days.
”People believe that ‘Ougat’ Patterson’s Wonder Kids are behind the sudden increase in attacks in Kensington. They’re desperate to enlarge their drug-selling turf. The two guys who shot me are Wonder Kids and one of them lives in Hanover Park. The police know this,” said Davids.
Christopher Patterson, who also calls himself a businessman and denies that he is the gang boss of the Wonder Kids, says he does not know who tried to kill Davids. ”Sanie says he was shot by Wayne ‘Tjops’ Williams. The police have come to look for Williams here. Williams is in Pollsmoor prison, not here,” said Patterson, who prefers to communicate through his spokesperson, AbduraÂÂgiem Booth.
”Kensington is littered with American gangsters. The problem is that the police are working with the Americans. Over the past couple of weeks the cops have been raiding houses and they confiscate guns and then sell it to the Americans, which is causing all the problems,” said Booth.
Oddly, the police are denying that there has been an increase in gang-related violence on the Flats. Despite numerous attempts by the M&G to obtain information, the South African Police Service refused to divulge the number of gang-related attacks that have taken place over the past couple of weeks or to allow any of the police officers working on the Cape Flats to speak to the M&G. ”Ask the minister of safety and security for information,” said media spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones.
When the M&G approached correctional services for comment on how many prisoners have been released on early parole, the Deputy Commissioner of Communication, Manelisi Wolela, would not comment, saying instead in a written statement that he wondered whether he should continue to lend credence to the M&G’s ”government-bashing mode of operation”.