Cape Town -
Chants of “We are taking back our community” could be heard through the streets of Tafelsig in Mitchells Plain on Sunday as People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) went on a motorcade to clear the area of crime and drugs over the festive season.
Accompanied by police, the convoy stopped outside suspected drug dealers’ homes. Residents came out of their homes to watch as the convoy blasted loud sound.
Pagad co-ordinator and Tafelsig resident Mogamat Keraan said there had been at least 10 murders in the area over the last month. The motorcade was one of several campaigns Pagad had embarked on this year and it would be the last, Keraan said.
“This demonstration is the final warning. Next time things will be very different,” he said.
“We are fed up with the drug trade and gang rivalry that has plagued this place for years. There is a gang war brewing and we won’t standfor it.”
A Tafelsig resident and mother-of-three, who chose to remain anonymous as she feared she might be targeted by gangsters, dismissed the effort by Pagad. She said the motorcade would do nothing to fix problems in the area.
“Gangsters and merchants are sitting laughing in their homes at this poor attempt to stop crime.
“Pagad should be active all year around, working with the children and educating them about the bad that is in gangsterism,” she said.
Tafelsig resident Jerome George said he lived in fear that his two young children would become the products of their environment.
“I feel like it’s only a matter of time. There is very little I can do.
“I can try to keep them locked in the house all day, but that won’t work. Drugs are all around here,” said George.
Cape Times