Cape Town – When the duo convicted of Angelo Davids' murder are finally sentenced on Tuesday, Manenberg community activist Roegshanda Pascoe hopes her testifying in the Angelo Davids "will serve as a beacon of hope for crime-resisters”.
“Yes, the price is very high to pay,” Pascoe, who has been in witness protection with her family since the trial started in March, told the Cape Times on Monday.
“But just looking at Angelo’s brother and his sister-in-law, how at peace they are and how they thank me – though thanks is not due to me – you give the family that form of closure and acceptance, especially where many aren’t getting any form of justice these days."
Clever Kids gang leader Mogamat Faeez Hendricks and Mogamat Naeem Benjamin of the Dixie Boys gang were last month convicted in the Western Cape High Court of Davids' murder in July 2016.
Davids, 26, was brutally assaulted a few metres from Pascoe's house and later died in hospital. Many in the community witnessed the incident but Pascoe, who has received several death threats, was the only one willing to testify.
“Angelo’s brother has also received threats. After the last court appearance, there was a situation where they shot at the house of one of the investigating officers with his family inside.
“They really mean business in threatening and intimidating people in this case and it’s getting a bit worrying when they request that me and my family must come home and that they won’t kill us. But I know their strategy and how they operate,” Pascoe said.
But she still believes it has been worthwhile in the long run, though she wished her children didn’t have to pay such a high price.
“In the end it sends a message to the government to pull up their socks and do their work. It’s time they take the departments who need to do their work to task and my mission is to keep them accountable.
“There were three guys I testified against, with one guy walking free after being acquitted. The family of the gang leader is fighting him now in the community and they are not happy that he got off free.
“Last night a friend said to me the area where the gang leader lives is very tense before the sentencing. The community hopes things are going to quieten down in Manenberg.
“I hope that after the sentencing the threats will subside and my children and I will be able to pick up the pieces again to a certain extent, because we aren’t sure what our living conditions are going to be, my daughter is still not in school and there is no fixed home yet for us.
“I have been attacked on Facebook with people saying, ‘Ja, you love the media and you were used by the police and they are corrupt police and you know what happened at your house with the shooting (when alleged gangsters opened fire on her house the day before she was to testify. No one was injured and Pascoe had been moved to a place of safety beforehand)'.
“Those threats are still coming and it’s a constant attack which is not taken well by my children.
“I am not part of the stream that witnessed something and just chose to stay silent. So they can try as much as they want to discredit me, but that’s fine. I don’t mind, my soul is free.
“The gangs are intimidating crime-fighters and taking out crime-resisters in the community because we are seen as threats.
"It’s getting worse if you look at the Mymoena Pillay case in Lentegeur because they have a lot of police on their payroll. That’s the reality in South Africa and Cape Town most of the time."
Well-known Lentegeur crimefighter Pillay, 56, a neighbourhood watch member, was arrrested last week and kept in a prison cell overnight after an alleged drug kingpin, Fadwaan "Vet" Murphy, opened a case of assault against her, when in fact, said Pascoe, she was the one who had been intimidated.
“I would love to know who the investigating officer was but they won't give me the details. How many times are these gangs not intimidating us, threatening us in the communities, and then there is no action," said Pascoe.
Pillay's family, however, claims she had been ill in hospital for a week and was recovering at home on the Monday when the alleged attack took place, the Daily Voice reported.
“It is very easy to for the police to say that people must help them fight crime and then you find people that stand up are faced with the harsh reality that the state doesn’t care about them."