Cape Town - Peace has at last fallen on Manenberg, and authorities and gangs have vowed to maintain it.
On Thursday marked two months since a peace deal was struck by the community, the Manenberg Safety Forum and gang leaders.
The forum’s chairwoman, Roegshanda Pascoe said they did not need police in the area as there was no violence and the community was capable of taking care of itself.
“Together we can show this community that a different picture of Manenberg can be painted. We as safety forum and you are an army on our own.”
She added that she had not heard any reports of people being shot in the streets in gang related incidents during the past two months: “Our people have been kept in slavery by gangsterism, but we want to show that there is a way forward.
“These past two months went very well. I won’t say there haven’t been robberies or things like that but it is a process.”
The safety forum’s peace negotiator, Errol Ronald said Manenberg was now stable.
“It is not the operations that make it quiet, but it’s the people.”
The police had not responded to requests for comment at the time of going to print.
William Adonis, a Hard Livings gang member, agreed that no fighting had taken place between any of the five gangs that operate in the area: “The police presence is still so big here. They shake us down and harass us and that is not right.”
Adonis said the police intimidated them for no reason. He said they would continue with their mission of keeping Manenberg safe: “What we must do is make sure the younger children stay in school.
“If we see them playing dice in the street we must take the dice and the money away.
“If we want to get it right we must all work together, all the gangs.”
Leroy Japhtha of the Americans gang agreed that police would often conduct searches “for no reason”.
“Our problem is that the police disrespect us. It is fine if they are doing their jobs and search us, but not the way they talk to us and treat us.”
Community worker, Joyce Stollies, said gangsters were no longer seeing any benefit to being members of gangs and that’s why they remained peaceful: “They can see that they are clever and smart and that they have everything going for them. Why must they lose that?”
Cape Argus