Cape Flats: Addressing violence with violence is no solution
The Cape Flats needs positive peace, not just the enforced absence of violence — a lesson South Africa should’ve learnt from the past
Cape Flats
Cape Town’s bloody gang violence is inextricably bound up in its history
Given the framework within which removals under the Group Areas Act took place in Cape Town, a social disaster was inevitable
Listen to your children
Witnessing violence or even being bullied at school can traumatise youngsters in ways we don’t always see at first
Ganglands heroes don’t wear capes
Ordinary people are doing what they can to help children surrounded by gunfire and drugs on the Cape Flats
Mixed emotions as soldiers return to the Cape Flats
Police Minister Bheki Cele made good on his week-old promise to send the SANDF to the Cape Flats to secure the area
Delay in military deployment will work in the favour of the cops — defence minister
Last week Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that President Ramaphosa had approved the deployment of military personnel to parts of Cape Town
Military intervention is not a crime-fighting solution
Moving towards militarised policing in South Africa could prove to be a deadly mistake
Community police break ranks in Flats
Volunteers call for an independent police manager and soldiers to help stop Western Cape murders
‘Accidental’ author climbs bestseller list
Yusuf Daniels, a former auctioneer, describes himself as someone who became an author by mistake
Editorial: Inequality in Cape’s unsafety
‘Policing keeps people safe. Without it, people in places like the Cape Flats are stuck in a state of chronic insecurity’
Gang-affected Cape Flats residents shoot down Armed Forces Day
Some have criticised the South African National Defence Force showcase
Betrayal adds to apartheid trauma
People sacrificed to achieve liberation but they continue to suffer from poverty and exclusion
No cinematic escape from Cape Flats life
A new film forces us to examine the background to crimes associated with poverty and deprivation
Politics mars anti-crime march
Political spats threaten to derail Cape Flats residents’ protests against gangsterism
Communities attempt to shut down Cape Flats to protest gang violence
Tuesday’s shutdown is expected to see Cape Flats residents blockading major arterial roads during peak morning traffic
Scapegoat for a desperate community
In 2012, Rowan du Preez was kidnapped and necklaced, dying later in hospital. Police said his last words implicated a local social justice activist
Cape Flats communities stand behind police while DA rallies for the army
Around the Cape Flats, communities have been agitating for the Western Cape and national governments to help them clamp down on gang violence
PODCAST: Bowie the poet
In this episode we meet Anthero Bowie, a former gang member who is out of prison and trying to reinvent himself as a poet
‘Nommer 37’ goes beyond its Hitchcock influence
Nommer 37 is a safe film, albeit one that executes well within its limits.
As Cape Town drought bites, what is ‘Day Zero’?
"Day Zero" is the day when city officials will be forced to cut off the normal water supply to more than one-million households.
Calls for army patrols as gang violence spirals
Sporadic gun battles in gang hotspots around the Cape Flats area have increased and prompted authorities to call for an army intervention
Police Minister’s request that SANDF help fight crime has implications on many levels
Dr Johan Burger, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, explains the legality and risks of deploying the SANDF to fight crime.
Of pain(t)ful pasts and parents
‘Grace’ explores the imbalance of concealing and confronting as well as inherited histories and the complex ways they influence the future
Dreaming of exile – memories of a rainbow nation childhood
Naledi Yaziyo reflects on her childhood fascination with people born into exile, and the way her perceptions of shaped her worldview.
Women and children continue to bear brunt of violence on Cape Flats
Women and children bear the brunt of drug and gang violence, but help is at hand in the form of the Saartjie Baartman and Women’s Legal centres.
Poetic lapses leaven life on the Cape Flats
Author Rehana Rossouw’s latest novel deals with conflicted and confused lives in the Cape Flats.
Emile YX: Pushing the art of hip hop along
Using hip hop to motivate and educate, Emile Lester Jansen – who has been in the industry for over three decades – aims to empower local youth.
Three killed in Cape gang shooting
Two teenagers are among those killed in a shooting over the weekend during gang violence in Mitchells Plain.
Grade one W Cape child shot on first day of school
A man has been arrested after an Elsies River boy was shot and wounded while on his way to his first day of grade one.
For one night, the Cape Flats sparkles with hope
Despite the 27 gang-related deaths since May in the area, some residents of Thames Walk in Manenberg find hope in the celebration of a matric dance.
‘Now he can help us save the Flats’
Having the former gang leader in their midst is a blessing, say youth who are trying to move on.
Cape Flats: On the border of war and privilege
Choppers, gunshots, dead dogs and dust. Faux fur, a silver Mercedes and immaculate detention.