‘A crisis of epic proportions’

THIS is a cry for help. When one asks a child how it is to live in the flats area of Ottery and the first thing you hear from the lips of the young one is that a friend of hers was shot and killed that morning, is there a crisis? Somebody else tells you that on that same morning the community was at the funeral of a child shot and killed in the crossfire between gangs.

When a representative from the taxi association gets up at a meeting and informs the gathering that they are being shot at almost daily and that one of their drivers was pulled out of his cab and robbed at gunpoint, is there a crisis? He comes to this meeting because the incidents were reported to the police but it made no difference.

When residents tell you that they have to sleep on the floor for fear of stray bullets, and ratepayers bemoan the fact that they are afraid to have friends over because of the constant gunshots in the area, is there a crisis? When a teacher in the area is shot in gang crossfire, and all this in one week, is there a crisis? When two children are together killed by a gunshot in Parkwood Estate, is there a crisis?

I think we have a crisis of such epic proportions that a call for a state of emergency in those areas is appropriate. The illegal guns must be removed out of our neighbourhoods. When there are media reports that guns which were to be destroyed end up in the Western Cape, then surely something is seriously wrong and extraordinary action is demanded of those who are mandated to protect the citizens of this country.

It is clear that the attempts to stem the tide are not working. Law enforcement agencies need to think out of the box. Those areas should be locked down to allow the police to do house to house searches. The army could secure the perimeters.

Good citizens will be required to give up their freedom for a day or so to allow this to happen. The inconvenience will be worth it. Young lives will be saved and a community can heal again. At the same time, legislation that makes it a criminal offence to belong to a gang should be implemented and gangsters removed from the area. PHILIP BAM Chairman: Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance