Cape Flats residents sick of crime, gangs

COMMUNITIES around the Cape Flats have had enough of crime and gang shootings in their areas.

“In our community there is a sense of hopelessness and despair. We are constantly hearing about rape and murder and we have had enough of this,” Faizel Brown from the Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum said.

Just a week ago a 16-year old child was murdered in Beacon Valley.

“We are constantly hearing stories about children being killed and what frustrates us is that no one is hearing us and no one is assisting us,” Brown said.

He said parents fear for their children’s safety. “This is the kind of reality that we deal with and this worries parents because they are afraid of their child being caught in some gang cross war,” he said.

The Ocean View area has become a playground for gangsters and has left residents locked in their own homes.

“Everyone is traumatised because we hear the sounds of gunshots going off every evening. There have been so many murders in our area and we are traumatised,” Community Policing Forum chairperson Kathy Cronje said.

Last month a police officer shot and killed his wife and then shot himself following an argument.

The CPF of Nyanga said police were worried about an increase in murders in the area. “We were informed by police that they are doing well in combating crime in our area but murder is the bigger problem. The community is very concerned,” Martin Makasi said.

Police Minister Bheki Cele said they were working on a new plan to combat crime on the Cape Flats. They wanted to deploy more units to certain areas but he did not provide a time frame when these would be sent in.