About 70 Bokmakierie
residents and Pagad members
held an unplanned march and picket yesterday to protest against gang shootings, drugs and crime in their area.
March participants Marlene Lucks, Abdul Jacobs and Mogamat-Noor Jacobs spoke about the frustrations over the situation in the Athlone suburb.
“I saw what is going on in our community – there's too much killing, gangsterism and drug (abuse) in our area and nothing
gets done about the situation," Lucks said.
“We decided to come together with Pagad members and anti-crime activist Hanief Loonat to help us
to demonstrate our frustrations.”
Jacobs said the march was to “make gangsters and those who are shooting aware that we are unhappy with their actions because their actions lock us up like prisoners in our homes”.
Lucks said violence started in 2016 as the Hard Livings gang and their rivals the Bad Boys G Unit went to war over drug turf.
This year, a young man died and a bystander was injured.
Last year, four people, including a one-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy and two men, were shot dead and three others injured in the crossfire, Lucks said.
Police spokesperson André Traut, when asked to list the
deaths and injuries from last year's gang shootings, said: “Due to a national moratorium, crime statistics cannot be released. However, previously released statistics can be accessed on our website at www.saps.gov.za.”