Gang wars must not be allowed to spill into Eastern Cape

Violent crime remains one of the biggest problems facing SA. Statistics released by the police department in July indicate that 21,325 people were killed between April 2019 and March 2020, the highest number in a decade. This means on average 58 people were killed every day. Such figures would send a chill down anyone s spine as they resemble a country at ’ war. A huge chunk of these murder cases are as a result of gang wars in areas such as the Cape Flats, Philipi, and Gugulethu in Cape Town.

In the ensuing wars, no-one is safe. Schoolchildren, the elderly, and even the disabled have been caught in the crossfire of these never-ending gang wars that have left thousands dead and others seriously injured or displaced.

Recently, eight people were gunned down in Gugulethu in a turf war believed to be between ‘ Boko Haram ’ and ‘ Guptas ’ gangs. The two groups are said to be engaged in a deadly winner-takes-all battle for control of extortion and drug territory.

We in the Eastern Cape must be concerned after the Daily Dispatch reported on Thursday that four suspects linked to murder cases in Cape Town townships in June and July were arrested on the R61 between Cofimvaba and Komani last weekend.

These four were probably trying to evade arrest in the Mother City but it could also be true that they were running away from their rivals.

Either way they were hiding in the province, or at least attempting to. Thankfully the long arm of the law caught up with them but their movement begs the question — at whose home were they staying?

We have said before that criminals do not fall from the sky. They are in our midst.

They are our relatives who stay with us, eat with us and laugh with us, only to maim the community through their inclination to commit heinous crimes. Why are we accommodating such people who have no respect whatsoever for the sanctity of life?

Having such elements penetrating our province would inevitably translocate gang wars to our doorstep.

Collectively we must demonstrate our disdain of social deviants by reporting them to law enforcement agents. It must be clear to criminals that they can run but cannot hide as we will turn them in to face the full wrath of the law.

Anything to the contrary will give them the impression that crime pays, and once that happens, the multiplier effect is too gruesome to even imagine.

It must be clear to criminals that they can run but cannot hide as we will turn them in to face the full wrath of the law