‘Bring army back for gangsters’

Increased gang violence on the Cape Flats has infuriated residents, some of whom have called for the army to patrol their streets. Warrant Officer Hermanus van Dyk, spokesman for the Steenberg police, said one gangster had been shot dead and 10 bystanders had been wounded in six shooting incidents during this past week in Lavender Hill. “One victim, Imeraan de Villiers, a well-known gang member and his friend, Glenville Sims, 32, were walking down St Beatrice Street when an unknown male on a bicycle shot at them several times.” He said De Villiers had been declared dead at the scene and Sims had been rushed to Victoria Hospital. In a separate incident on Sunday, a 30-year-old man, Sebastian Johnson, had died after he was stabbed in the back and the neck. Van Dyk said Steenberg police were searching for a suspect who was on the run. “At about 2.55pm, two rival gang members from the Mongrels and the Corner Boys had an argument in an alley in Lavender Hill. Johnson collapsed in front of 17B Eltister Road,” said Van Dyk. This brings to three the number of people killed in gang-related incidents in the past three weeks. Steenberg SAPS has increased police visibility in Lavender Hill and surrounding areas. “A special operation is being launched to track down suspects who are implicated in the violence,” said Van Dyk. Furious community members criticised Community Safety MEC Dan Plato’s gang strategy. Lucinda Evans, a community leader speaking on behalf of residents, questioned how peace could have been negotiated with “criminals that break the laws of the country”. “We’re living in fear. What is General (Arno) Lamoer’s office really doing? “Planning another negotiation with these criminals? “How many more injuries and fatalities should there be before the realisation that Lavender Hill is in crisis?” asked Evans. She’s called for the return of the Defence Force to the area. The army was called into the area last year after a spate of gang violence “They should stay for a longer period. We need to make sure that the immediate threat of violence is under control. “We hope that there are more efforts than visible policing, and more aggressive tactics, from SAPS to make sure we remain safe,” said Evans. “The amount of people that flocked to our offices this morning for trauma counselling is an indicator that people are living, again, in worse fear than five months ago,” she said. Kevin Southgate, Steenberg’s Community Police Forum chairman, said the increase in gang violence confirmed that gangs were not committed to peace. “At the time I said they (the peace deals) are not worth the paper they are written on. “Gangs engage in these initiatives because it is expedient for them… and helps to deflect attention when they are being targeted by SAPS,” said Southgate. Plato said the emerging violence was not from gangs involved in the peace treaty but from “people who don’t want peace and don’t care if they go to jail”.