Parents can play part in curbing gangsterism

POLITICAL will is what is needed to stem the tide of gangsterism, said Clive Cairns, psychologist and deputy principal of the Youth Care Centre in Ottery.

The centre houses boys between 12 and 18 years old who have committed crimes ranging from theft and burglary to assault and rape.

Many of the boys were once gang members but have been given a new lease on life by furthering their education.

Renowned former vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State Jonathan Jansen shares Cairns’s sentiments, saying, “if this was happening in areas like Bishopscourt, the problem would have been solved ages ago”.

Cairns said a multipronged approach was needed to win the war against gangsterism and the killing of innocent children.

Weekend Argus last week compiled a count of reported and alleged gang-related killings in the province since January 2017. That figure stands at a staggering 139 and is growing by the day.

Experts say this figure is a fraction of what is really happening in gang- affected communities. Weekend Argus spoke to a criminologist, political scientists, trauma counsellor and psychologist to look at the issue of gangsterism.

Cairns said many communities struggled with gangsterism and in the Western Cape it was particularly prevalent in coloured communities.

“The main reasons we have identified that makes the youth turn to gangs are absent fathers and/or drinking mothers.”

According to Cairns, the mother is largely seen as the nurturer in a family and where perinatal care is absent, young children experience a sense of “nobody cares about me”. He said this feeling often translated into them not caring how their actions affected others.

“They become accustomed to violence, so the gang lifestyle almost becomes the norm for them,” he added.

Cairns said parents often lived in denial and would not publicly admit their children were involved in gangs. This exacerbated the problem.

“For parents, it’s all about projecting a good image to the world, albeit that the home life is everything but good.”

Cairns warned that mothers who smoked and drank during pregnancy set the unborn child on a negative trajectory and these children were more susceptible.

“Not only do these kids have learning challenges, but they also find that schools are not safe spaces for them. They don’t possess the inner resilience to withstand the influences of their communities,” he said.

While children who join gangs have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, Cairns said their world view was often distorted and they were driven by a strong desire to belong. While some children in impoverished communities turned to sports clubs, youth groups and churches, others turned to gangs.

“In many communities, these youths even join gangs so that they can get ahead in life. They also want to wear brand names and support their families. Because they don’t have jobs to do this, a life of crime is one way for them to achieve these goals,” said Cairns.

He warned gangsters should not be viewed as delinquents as they often had great skill and savvy.

“Many gangsters and gang bosses see themselves as entrepreneurs. Those skills should be redirected and they need to be told that there is a place for them under the sun.”

Cairns said while children felt their lives were worthless, the appeal of gang life would remain. He added gangsters existed in a constantly hyped state, knowing each day could be their last and this added to the impunity with which they operated at times.

“They know that their lives and the lives of their families are at risk; they know that their activities could get them jailed at any moment and this weighs them down,” he said.

Fatima Swarts, programme manager at the Centre for Healing of Memories, works with youths who have escaped gangs. She agreed that the

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home environment is what forms a child and the adult she/he becomes. Swarts said she recently worked with an allgirl gang in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, and the common theme was that they felt trapped and could not escape the life.

“We have found that even children who are bullied at school turn to gangs for protection,” said Swarts.

She said Atlantis stood out for her and they were conducting restoring humanity workshops in the area.

“In Atlantis, we have children of eight years old who are runners for the drug dealers.

“We struggle greatly with inter-generational gangsterism. Many children also come from homes where their parents are gangsters and the gang life is the only life they know. They are drawn by the flashy cars, expensive clothes and availability of money and do not realise that this cannot last.”

Swarts said “healing” has not been on the national agenda and if the stories of the children who escaped the life were not heard, things would never change.

“The children we counsel express a strong desire to belong and for many the trust they had in adults has been broken. They know that their actions when they were part of gangs were wrong because it just never felt right to them.”

She said for some youths, the only way they ever escaped the gangs was by moving to a different area and this could further add to their trauma.

Both Cairns and Swarts agree more resources are needed to tackle the scourge of gangsterism in the province.