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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has financially backed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Sona. (GCIS)

Godongwana financially backs Ramaphosa’s tough talk on crime

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has signalled increased spending on peace and security in his budget speech from R268.2 billion in 2025/26 to R291.2 billion in 2028/29. The…

Political mafias and ‘business’ became common, for example municipal contracts between former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and the Delangokubona Business Forum. Photo: File

Political gangsterism is a clear and present danger

In collaboration with crooks, political mafias have emerged in which private fortunes are being built on plundered public wealth

Social media has become a theatre for violence and intimidation, particularly where gang affiliation is concerned.

Trigger fingers: The rise of digital gangsterism

Technology is not neutral — it reflects societal values and addressing inequality is crucial to prevent technology from becoming another tool for control and violence

Deadly: Tiffiney Carolisen (in red) leads a march in Delft after her sister, Aqeelah Schroeder, was killed in 2022. Photo: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images

Murder spikes as Delft gangs target child recruits

Gang-related deaths totalled 23 in the first 18 days of September

‘Daddy, can I show the uncle my gun?’ (Joey Isaacs)

‘This is why a forever war kid like me is friends with gangsters’

Gangs offer Cape Flats youths a way to elevate their status, opportunities for manageable responsibility and to gain access to resources. And they start young

Shootings continue in the area despite a gunfire detection system, known as ShotSpotter, having become fully operational again in Hanover Park in December.

Gunshot detection system stalls while Cape Flats violence persists

Nearly 50 people were gunned down in another bloody week while implementation of the gunfire-detection system ShotSpotter was delayed by “administrative processes”

Bunny chow to the rescue: Pastor Burt Elliot and facilitator Uzusiphe Nkuzo help run the Gang Intervention and Prevention Programme at Ubuntu4All in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay, Cape Town. (David Harrison/M&G)

How a rock and bunny chow changed the lives of young gang members

An ex-gang member tells how his life was turned around when a pastor intervened in the violence that was devastating his community

Living his dream: Wynne Dryden coaches his son Rephan. (David Harrison/M&G)

It’s a goal: How a former gangster is changing the lives of children through football

Wynne Dryden is dedicating his life to children in Epping Forest’s gang-riddled streets with the help of his love for soccer

The SANDF and SAPS in a joint operation in a raid to collect looted goods at the Nguni Hostel in Vosloorus.  (Photo Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

A new book asks the timeless question: ‘Can We Be Safe?’

Ziyanda Stuurman’s new book critiques the South African police and their role in society

Gangland: In Elsie’s River near Cape Town, where poverty and gangsterism are rife, young men congregating on street corners using or selling drugs, or ‘skarrelling’ through rubbish for usable items, is a common sight.

Cape Town’s desperate female gangster phenomenon

Research finds women and girls act as recruits, drug dealers and armed gangsters in the ‘deeply ingrained’ gang culture in the Western Cape

A province riddled with violent crime and gangsterism has a new sheriff after Police Minister Bheki Cele approved the appointment of Thembisile Patekile as police commissioner in the Western Cape.

New Western Cape police commissioner to sort out old problems

The province gets a permanent police commissioner to fight crime and violence during a time of instability in the police force

Mia Arderne says she was not quite prepared for the emotional investment that went into writing her debut novel Mermaid Fillet. (Supplied)

Q&A with author Mia Arderne: ‘A prayer for the jol not to end

Mia Arderne’s Mermaid Fillet was a lifetime in the making. The author’s vulnerability gives the book superpowers

Mermaid Fillet is, among other things, an intricately woven tale of wannabe gangsters.

Extract from ‘Mermaid Fillet: A Noir Crime Novel’ by Mia Arderne

This extract from Mia Arderne’s debut work of fiction, ‘Mermaid Fillet: A Noir Crime Novel’ introduces readers to Uncle ‘M16-in-your-bek’

How to refresh SA’s jaded democracy

We should look to the Philippines, where barangays, or neighbourhood governments, help to empower communities

Third force weekly mail 1992

From the archives: For the first time, an insiders’ account of the Third Force

Two young gangsters give an horrific account of how they were encouraged, equipped and trained to carry out violence against ANC-linked targets by the security forces.

Caughtin the crossfire: Valentino Grootetjie

Staggie legacy remains a threat

The Cape’s notorious hoodlum was buried in reverence while an innocent child was shot during a gang chase

Durban attorney Ahmed Amod remains adamant that he has done nothing wrong regarding a dubious property scheme

Defence lawyers killed as Cape Town gang wars spread

Several attorneys and advocates told the Mail & Guardian that their fraternity is now “under siege”.

The case for not punishing drug users (Photo Archive)

The case for not punishing drug users

We need to reinvent the system so we can address the reasons for abuse, rather than punishing individuals

By far the greatest share of schools lacking sanitation is in the Eastern Cape, where 1 478 schools need emergency sanitation. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Education MEC blames overaged learners for violence in schools

The North West MEC education of education says overaged learners should not be admitted into schools because they cause disruptions

In two recent incidents, staff in Delft were threatened by extortionists, the Western Cape standing committee on social development heard on Friday. (Photo: Getty Images)
Video

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