Residents march against gangsterism
SCORES of residents marched through the streets of Manenberg, the scene of a number of gang shootings, demanding that gangsters stop fighting one another.
“We want peace. We want peace,” they shouted, at times pointing at homes where they believed gangsters lived.
Heavily-armed police officers escorted the residents through the streets and at one point, more than 13 police vehicles followed the marchers.
Jacky Knight, 27, a resident who helped organise the march, said each day about four people were shot in the area. “Enough is enough.”
An eight-year-old boy, walking alongside two friends, held a poster that said: “Stop killing our children.” He said he was too afraid to go to school because he feared getting shot.
As residents marched into one street, they warned: “This is the war zone,” referring to a spot where a number of shootings had occurred.
In another street, divided into Hard Livings and Ameri- cans territory, residents stopped at a group of men who were not marching. “Join us. Stop what you’re doing,” the residents shouted.
At one point, a man with tattoos on his lower left arm walked up to a police van saying he knew of an Americans gangster with a gun. The man then accused the police of being too afraid to deal with gangsterism in the area.
Due to the increase in gang violence, police operations were recently stepped up in Manenberg. And police officers were deployed to eight schools in the area identified as highrisk.
Earlier this month, the Manenberg Community Police Forum detailed to the Cape Times a 10-point plan devised by police and the CPF to try to clamp down on shootings.
The plan included police searching apparent bystanders and those loitering in the vicinity of a shooting scene.