Gang violence claims 20th victim

Cape Town. 120614. LINE UP: A Metro Police officer looks on as a group of men in Hanover Park are searched on a pavement. The search formed part of a broader Metro Police operation targeting gangs and drugs Photo by Michael Walker

Cape Town. 120614. LINE UP: A Metro Police officer looks on as a group of men in Hanover Park are searched on a pavement. The search formed part of a broader Metro Police operation targeting gangs and drugs Photo by Michael Walker

Published Nov 20, 2014

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Carlo Petersen

TWENTY people have been shot dead in three weeks in Hanover Park in ongoing gang violence – prompting a community leader to call on the government to deploy SANDF troops in the suburb to quell the killings.

As community leader Ricardo Sedres was speaking to the Cape Times yesterday, he received information that a 24-year-old had been shot dead at Galilee Court.

“Gangsters stormed his flat and opened fire. The body is still lying there covered in blood,” he said. “That’s one person shot dead every day for three weeks.”

Police spokesman Lance Golliath confirmed the incident yesterday.

Sedres, 34, has drawn up a petition calling on the SANDF to come to his suburb, which is part of a letter he has written to President Jacob Zuma. He plans to hand over the letter during a march to Parliament, which he is planning.

The opening paragraph reads: “We... appeal to you to save our kids, save our heritage, save the place we have grown up in, the place we so love but cannot live in and raise our kids because of gang violence and the killing of our innocent children in the crossfire.”

Hanover Park Anti-Crime Campaign chairman Clinton Abrahams supports Sedres’s plea. Abrahams referred to an incident on Tuesday when police in Manenberg came under attack. He said a gang leader was shot, then arrested for firing at police.

Police spokesman Ian Bennett said: “At 8.45am, police were on patrol in Scheldt Road. As they approached Erica Court, they saw a group of men standing in the court. One of them turned and started to shoot at police. Police returned fire, wounding a 27-year-old man in the neck.

“The man was taken to hospital and arrested. He faces a charge of attempted murder.”

Western Cape police spokeswoman Novela Potelwa said yesterday police had made an undertaking to intensify efforts to fight gang violence.

“Initiatives such as Operation Combat continue to make inroads in that regard,” said Potelwa. “An appeal is hereby made to communities to play an active role in assisting the police to fight the scourge of gangs.”

Dr Don Pinnock, a criminologist who has been researching gangs on the Cape Flats for 30 years, cautioned against deploying the army.

“Using the army is a very bad idea. It signals a loss of control by the government to control gang violence,” he said.

“Soldiers are trained to home in on an enemy and use firepower. In a highly dense population, this is dangerous.

“When the army leaves, things go back to normal and the gangs have the run of the streets again.”

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