Cape Town - Bursts of gunfire, tremors in the walls and screams of terror that trigger her reflexes to dive for cover are the daily realities a Manenberg grandmother faces.
Gaironesa Daniels, 58, is still coming to terms with her grandson’s murder.
Yusric Daniels was shot in a gang-related incident in September 2014.
Gaironesa told the Cape Argus that living in Manenberg was like living in a war zone.
“We have to run for cover every time they shoot and lie on the ground. Why don’t they shoot themselves? Why should we be held hostage, this is not their community alone.”
Yusric was killed at a nearby tuck shop by gangsters who had mistaken him for someone else. He was only 16.
On Tuesday, an emotional Daniels explained how his death and the recent gang violence had caused her to fear for the lives of her other grandchildren.
Every morning, she walks her four grandchildren, aged between four and 10, to Rio Grande Primary School, about 700m from her home.
She said over the years the walk had become terrifying because of sporadic shootings which normally start at about the time schools starts.
“You get scared because you are not sure if it is safe to go out.
“When school starts, the gangs too come out and start shooting; to be ‘safe’ you try to outsmart them by walking the children early and also fetching them early from school,” she said.
Daniels’s granddaughter, 8, feared going to bed at night because of the shootings.
“She never goes to bed alone. She would rather wait up even though she is exhausted because she says she fears that the shooting will start.”
Daniels told of an incident that took place over the weekend, where an 11-year-old boy was used by gang leaders as a hitman.
“That boy was riding on rollerblades waving a gun and shooting at every street corner. My grandchildren and I could not believe what we were seeing, to a point where I reprimanded them not to ever ride on rollerblades.”
Manenberg Safety Forum spokeswoman Roegshanda Pascoe said the gang violence had worsened over the years.
“From 5pm onwards everyone has to be indoors because they start shooting when people return from work, straight into the night.
“You start hearing the gunshots and you have to make sure you are far from the windows and have your belly to the ground.”
Pascoe, who runs weekly safety and recovery workshops, said there was no end to the gang violence in Manenberg.
For the past few years residents had tried to get gangs to abide to a peace treaty.
The recent surge in gang violence was said to have been sparked by a shooting at the Manenberg police station.
On March 31, Edward Bennett was shot in the left arm and managed to identify his attacker.
“Since then, a gang fight or gang war has been raging in Manenberg,” Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula said.
The “raging war” was not confined to Manenberg, with areas in Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Wesbank and Elsies River also affected.
However, Pascoe disagrees. She believes the flare-up was a result of a stabbing incident.
The treaty signed in January last year by rival gang bosses was broken a fortnight ago, she said, when a fight broke out between Hard Livings (HL) gang members while gambling.
It is alleged an HL member was stabbed, which then escalated to an internal split in the gang, with one member moving to the rival Americans gang.
A police source revealed that at least 14 people were gunned down since the start of the month in the Manenberg area.
The source also revealed that police recorded at least 15 attempted murders this month.
The official word from the police, however, was that gang violence was on an “upward trend”.
“For as long as there is no sustainability and recreational activities in Manenberg, flare-ups like this will take place,” Pascoe said.
Meanwhile, in Bonteheuwel, residents said they were frustrated with the increase in gang violence.
Joint Peace Forum spokeswoman Judy Kennedy said no plans had been put in place by authorities to curb gangsterism.
“People are extremely traumatised and are living in fear. Where are the police, why are they not taking action?”
Bonteheuwel resident, Jeni-Lee Carolus said her printing business had taken a dip because clients feared going to her home.
“We don’t know what to do anymore; people are being shot at for no reason. We want to feel safe.”
Police denied they were doing nothing to curb gang violence.
After a crisis meeting on Tuesday, Jula said a specialised task team, which consists mainly of Operation Combat members, would be redeployed to the affected areas.
Jula said the police would be restructuring their approach to tackling gang violence by increasing visibility, engaging with community safety forums and mainly targeting gang bosses through the new task team.
From March 21 to April 10, Operation Combat members, led by Major-General Jeremy Veary, had made 33 arrests in the affected areas.
Of the 30 firearms confiscated by police, six were automatic rifles, Jula said.
While Jula conceded a lack of resources was hindering police operations, he did not confirm nor deny Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer’s estimation that the Western Cape is the most under-resourced province in South Africa, with 85 percent of its police stations being under-staffed.
Schäfer said 2 392 posts had not been filled. Schäfer expressed her concern about a “flare up in gang violence” around schools in Bonteheuwel and Manenberg.
She said a Grade 9 pupil at a Bonteheuwel school had been stabbed in the chest on Friday and the perpetrators were believed to be gangsters.
“I was so angered by the events of Friday that I requested an urgent meeting with Lieutenant-General Jula, to discuss how they plan to comply with their constitutional duty to keep our learners safe, especially in the light of his stated commitment to address the gang problem in the Western Cape.
“I made myself available over the weekend and evenings.
“However, to date his office has advised us that they cannot secure a date for this meeting.”
She said schools and the Western Cape Education Department had repeatedly requested additional police visibility around schools, “however, visibility has been minimal, and sporadic”.
Schäfer said she had been heartened by the strength and commitment of teachers who had “during difficult times, ensured that they create a sense of normalcy in their schools so that teaching and learningcontinues”.
Counselling and other support had been made available to schools affected by the recent gang violence.
In 2014, the WCED invested R8.3 million on bullet deflective fences for 12 schools in Manenberg.
Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said even though it was the police’s primary mandate to fight crime, the city council would also be making resources available in order to assist police operations in Manenberg.
She said the Stabilisation Unit was launched in Manenberg in the middle of last year and the unit was deployed in the area for four months between July and November, and thereafter to other hot spots.
“As of Monday morning, 58 members of the Stabilisation Unit have been redeployed to Manenberg and will be assisting the Gang and Drug Task Team with disruptive policing as well as integrated policing operations there until further notice.”
Jula has confirmed that police will also deploy 36 members.
“We will be co-ordinating our efforts,” said De Lille.
She said since this past weekend, the city council’s Gang and Drug Task Team had been conducting raids and sting operations in the area and together with the stabilisation unit had confiscated three illegal firearms in Manenberg.
De Lille said five suspects had been arrested for possession of narcotics, and various quantities of dagga and mandrax were also seized.
Western Cape MEC for Community Safety Dan Plato said his department assisted the police and appealed to the residents to give police information that would help curb gangsterism.
Cape Argus