Cape Town -
The fear is palpable - when one of Cape Town’s most feared multi-murderers is mentioned in the neighbourhood his gang ruled over, residents’ eyes go wide and their conversations hush.
“If I talk, I will get shot,” one whispers, nervously looking up and down a street in Bishop Lavis.
This is how residents there feel despite 28s gang boss George “Geweld” (Violence) Thomas being in jail for seven consecutive years and now facing decades more behind bars.
Thomas, 48, was convicted of seven murders, and an array of other charges in the Western Cape High Court on Thursday.
He was accused of having carried out killings and having ordered a number of hits from behind bars in the country’s biggest gang trial, which saw only one of 18 accused being acquitted of all crimes. Sentencing procedures are expected to start on Tuesday.
Weekend Argus visited Bishop Lavis, Thomas’s gang’s stronghold where a number of murders were carried out over the years. The terror he instilled is still apparent there - no residents were willing to be identified publicly.
And none of the relatives, of those who were murdered over the years for their links to the trial, would go on the record because they feared they would be killed in turn for talking out.
At one residence, which had heavy security measures in place, a relative looked relieved when hearing Thomas had been convicted for multiple murders.
But asked if she wanted to comment on the convictions, she quickly shook her head and said nervously: “He’s mad. He’ll come shoot me.”
Another relative said she had forgiven Thomas for what he had done. Her family did not want her to make her identity known publicly or talk openly about what they were going through as they feared for their safety.
A number of other residents recalled the reign of terror, orchestrated by Thomas, that played out between 2006 and 2010.
“It was a scary time. You didn’t know who was going to be killed next. You see these babies grow into children, then adults, then be killed. It was a bad time,” one said.
Weekend Argus this week also visited Thomas’s mother’s home.
She did not want to be named and eagerly asked what judgment had been handed down.
The elderly woman, with eye problems, said she had not been able to attend the judgment because she had to go to the nearby clinic because of her eyes.
She said she had only gone to the Western Cape High Court once at the start of the trial to see what was happening.
“The Lord’s given me the strength to see it through. What happened has happened and we must just keep strong,” Thomas’s mother said.
She called Thomas’s wife, Shamiela, to chat to Weekend Argus. But Shamiela Thomas said she did not want to be interviewed.
She simply said she had heard what her husband had been convicted of, but had not been able to attend court proceedings as she was sick with a cold.
Shamiela Thomas said the trial had been stressful for her because her name had been mentioned a number of times during proceedings and details about her family had been exposed.
Sunday Argus