Community dialogue to explore solutions to gang violence
Gang violence in Gqeberha’s northern areas will come under the spotlight when Nelson Mandela Bay academics host a community dialogue later this week in the hope of coming up with real solutions to the ongoing devastation.
The Helenvale Youth Empowerment Project (HYEP), in association with the University of the Free State (UFS) and the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS), will look into the underlying socioeconomic and other factors contributing to gangsterism in the crime-ridden region of the Bay, while also exploring possible ways of assisting the community to rise above the consistent violence.
The dialogue comes shortly after a mass shooting where four suspected gang members were gunned down in a Salt Lake home last week in what many believe to be an execution-style hit by a vigilante group.
Despite provincial police ordering a 72-hour mobilisation plan to track down the shooters, police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said no progress had been made on the case.
Dialogue host and HYEP project manager Desira Davids said the event was planned months in advance, but it came at an opportune time in light of recent violence in the area.
“Obviously it was a shockingly violent incident and it highlights just how important dialogues such as ours are.
“This is an ongoing concern, and we need to explore real solutions and try to influence policymakers to take action against the scourge of gangs and the related violence.”
Davids said the dialogue, scheduled for Friday at the Grace Chapel of Victory Ministries International in Highfield Road, would be a followup to the first dialogue held in December.
It would explore research by various academics, including anthropology professor Theodore Petrus, who has done close to a decade of research into crime and gangs in the northern areas.
“This session will also look at the Covid-19 era and the impact that it has on gang subcultures.
“We hope to have positive discussions,” Davids said.