Gang violence, GBV march
RESIDENTS led by non-profit organisations in Hanover Park took to the streets yesterday to condemn the “normalisation” of gender-based violence and gang shootings that plagued their area.
The march comes after yet another gang-related shooting which occurred on Saturday in which a 31-year-old man and a dog were shot dead near St Lucia Court. Three others aged between 15 and 24 also sustained gunshot injuries. Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said Philippi police were investigating a murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Moms Move for Justice Peace and Reconciliation founder Avril Andrews said the goal was to raise awareness of and sensitise the community to the ongoing widespread GBV and gang violence in the community.
Andrews said through offering trauma counselling to the rape victims they discovered that most survivors were not reporting cases to the police because they feared secondary victimisation and lacked trust in the police.
“They would go elsewhere if they had to report the cases and not to the Philippi police station. We also feel like there is some form of hopelessness in following through with the cases because of how some women are treated by the police. We are all affected by these things and as a community, we can’t turn a blind eye. It’s war in our community and women bear the brunt,” she said.
Community activist and a member of the CPF Yaseen Johaar said the condition in the area was as if the residents were in a civil war. He said there were shootings daily, with at least one murder every week.
“On top of that, you have public servants and politicians exclaiming that in all the areas where law enforcement officers have been deployed, crime is decreasing, which is false. The notion of deploying the army is also another biggest joke.
“This is an idea that was planted into the masses, hoping that the army was going to also make a change, but knowing also that it’s not. But the fact is that it’s more wasted money,” Johaar said.
He said instead of wasting millions on ineffective crime prevention projects such as the Shotspotter project, which he said was a failure, intervention must be through programmes targeting the socio-economic conditions in the area.
“I think what’s happening is just a result of public servants failing this community. These billions of rand being allocated need to go into funding the root cause of crime – like unemployment, poverty, school drop-outs, teenage pregnancies, and improving education conditions.
If all those monies could then be invested in those aspects, most definitely there would be a decrease of crime in the area,” he said.
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We can’t turn a blind eye. It’s war in our community and women bear the brunt AVRIL ANDREWS
Moms Move For Justice Peace and Reconciliation