Carlo Petersen
AS A surge in gang violence sweeps through Cape Town, policing officials have admitted that they are struggling to curb the continuous war which has left eight communities gripped by fear.
Jeremy Vearey, head of Operation Combat, a police operation targeting gangsterism in the province, said extra police personnel were being deployed into gang hot spots.
Vearey said they were confiscating between 30 to 40 guns a week.
Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the metro police’s Gang and Drug Task Team had been plunged into “a cloud of mayhem and violence” when it joined the police recently in the battle to bring gangsters to book.
Vearey gave assurances that police were making significant drug hauls and “good arrests” while seeing to the confiscation of the firearms.
“We have increased operations in areas that are affected, and have deployed extra forces into Manenberg, Hanover Park and Ottery,” he said.
Smith noted that due to current gang wars, Manenberg, Hanover Park, Ottery, Lavender Hill and Mitchells Plain had been prioritised as hot spots, while Heideveld, Bonteheuwel and Elsies River were experiencing “sporadic attacks”.
“The task team was plunged into an absolutely impossible situation in Manenberg on Saturday night after responding to complaints of shoot-outs in that area.
“What made it even more dangerous was that load shedding took place in the middle of the operation, leaving the entire area pitch dark, and you had a situation where gangsters were taking pot shots at our officers,” he revealed.
Smith said that he had since approached the City’s utilities directorate to exempt communities experiencing serious gang violence from load shedding.
“We are already struggling as it doesn’t matter how many arrests are made, or how many guns get confiscated, they (the gangsters) just send in more soldiers and get more ammunition.”
According to Smith, during an operation in Hanover Park on Saturday, metro police arrested the leader of the Mongrels gang.
“The suspect was one of 16 arrested on drug-related charges.
“Officers on patrol in the area received a tip-off that led to the arrest of the gang leader and another suspect.”
Later, in Manenberg, three suspects were arrested when they were found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
Provincial Community Policing Forum chairperson, Magdalene Moos, said gang violence had left communities living in so much fear that children no longer played outdoors.
“Our roads and parks are empty. Children are being robbed of the opportunity to play outside because parents fear they might get shot, but even in their homes they are not safe.
“Most often the people in our communities know who the perpetrators are, but are too scared to report them to the police.
“The way forward is to break that fear and for residents to come forward and join hands with police,” she added.