The Western Cape government urged caution as gang-ravaged communities called for Pagad or its splinter group Pagad G-Force to intervene in gang wars.
“This is the beginning of a revolution, our people are waging war against the gangs,” warned a leader of Pagad G-Force, the splinter group of the vigilante organisation People Against Gangsterism and Drugs, which has tasked itself with bringing stability to communities plagued by gang violence.
Police who are trying to quell the violence in Operation Restore. During stop and search operations in Ravensmead on Friday night they arrested a 29- year-old man in possession semi-automatic uzzi. He was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm and resisting arrest, said police spokesman Sergeant Wesley Twigg.
But some residents seemed to think G-Force has the answer to gang violence which was out of control.
A G-Force member, who asked to not be identified, said they had received thousands of calls for them to take back the streets of the Cape Flats.
The member said they also had 1 000 requests from residents wanting to join the group.
“Our people are tired, they are finally getting to the point where they putting their foot down and we are 100% behind them,” he said.
“We will face what they fear.”
The member said their group has been working on engaging with gang leaders and forming a bridge between residents and police to try to bring peace.
“Innocent people hide guns for gangsters, because they say these gangsters make sure there's food on the table and a roof over their heads.
“That is also why we hear that the community protects the gangsters because once that officer and his team leaves the area, the community is once again under the control of the gangs, all because of poverty.”
The member said it was for this reason that they believed that tackling socio-economic problems went hand-in-hand with addressing gangsterism.
The member denied they were a terrorist group.
“We are far from terrorists, if anything the gangs are the real terrorists. They are terrorising our people. I can say so confidently because we attend to around four shootings per day, every day, in different parts of the Cape Flats.
“We will try every method to try and sort out a situation, be it having peace talks, engaging with the communities, speaking to SAPS or Law Enforcement, and if none of those methods work we will have no other choice than to send a clear message.”
Manenberg crime activist Roegshanda Pascoe, said residents needed to join hands with Pagad G-Force.
“Gangsters don't have respect for law and order and the biggest problem is that there is not one sector who puts our people first.”
Pascoe said residents were desperate to return to the days when women could walk freely and children could play outside without fear of being struck by bullets.
“Those were the days, our kids could run around without ducking and diving from stray bullets, the gangsters would wait until one or two in the morning to shoot because they had respect,” added Pascoe.
A 72-year-old woman who wanted to remain anonymous said she recalled a time in Hanover Park where gangsters had respect for the communities.
“They had respect, they wouldn't even smoke in front of the older people. That is not a word of a lie. Then Pagad came in when things started getting rough, people knew to be inside, and just those big shot gangsters would be outside to try and negotiate with the peace talkers and Pagad.”
Pascoe said government needed to take its responsibility to keep citizens safe, seriously.
“We want solutions and if it’s Pagad or Pagad G-Force then so be it, because we are past the point of peace talks.
“Until the government honours their obligation to serve the people properly, we will sit with a war where innocent people (are) dying and their families (live with) regrets, anger and pain,” she said.
Western Cape MEC for Community Safety an Policing oversight Reagen Allen, said even through they were aware that many communities were plagued by gangsterism, they were concerned by the call for intervention from an entity that has “violent tendencies”.
“We understand their frustration and anger that this is seemingly not being addressed. We share their sentiments that crime requires urgent attention so that it can be eradicated from our communities.
“I am, however, deeply concerned with the call for an entity that has violent tendencies. History has shown us that violence is never the solution for violence – instead, what we’ve been seeing is just more bloodshed and more lives being lost. I cannot support entities that act with impunity and outside the parameters of the law.
“Given that our men and women in blue are grossly under-resourced and (the ratio of) detectives to dockets is approximately 1:250, it becomes extremely challenging for them to attend to all matters.”
Allen said this is part of the reason why 1 000 LEAP officers have been deployed in areas where crime, especially the murder rate is rife.