As gang violence continues to plague the Cape Flats, residents are left wondering: what drives these turf wars?
Image: IOL Graphics
As the gang violence continues unabated on the Cape Flats, the question remains, why are gangs fighting?
There are about 130 known gangs across the Cape Flats, and the ongoing shootings have taken place across multiple areas with known hotspot areas as: Mitchells Plain, Lavender Hill, Delft, Manenberg, Bonteheuwel, Lotus River, Elsies River, Ottery, and Kraaifontein.
Residents in these areas are being held hostage by gunfire.
One of the hottest gang spots at the moment continues to be Hanover Park with drive-by shootings taking place every other day.
According to a source, the Ghettos and OTF gangs are currently at war in Hanover Park.
“The war currently going on, on the Cape Flats are all about one thing - drugs. There are not just specific drugs but all the drugs, such as tik (methamphetamine), cocaine, heroin, and mandrax,” the source explained.
The source said most gangs are fighting for drug turf, as gang members, most times gang leaders, are dying, and a fight for turf and the ‘top spot’ remains a priority.
“Each gang has the same agenda: extortion, drugs, and human trafficking. The main things gangs are trying to do is to expand their territory,” the source said.
A breakdown of the current war has also been given.
Manenberg - Clever Kids vs Hard Livings (HL) - the Fancy Boys attempted to join the war.
In the Ottery and New Horizons areas: No Fears vs Mongrols.
The 6Bobs gang linked up with the No Fears, while the Dog Pounds linked up with the Mongrols.
It was also stated that the No Fears, 6Bobs, and Junky Funky Kidz (JFK) have all aligned.
In the Lavender Hill area, the JFKs are currently at war with the Flakkas gang.
The Flakkas gang stems from previous members of the JFKs.
“Last week, there was a mass immigration of JFKs to the Flakkas. This is all about drug turf control and who has the most territory."
The chairperson of the Community Police Forum of Steenberg (CPF), which covers the Lavender Hill precinct, Nicola Small, told IOL that it is their constant appeal to the community to share information about perpetrators with authorities.
“They know who the perpetrators are, where guns and drugs are kept, who's involved in what illegal/criminal activities. If, for some reason, they don't wish to speak to the CPF or Steenberg SAPS, tip-offs can be made anonymously via the My SAPS app, but at some point, we have to take back our spaces,” Small said.
Community and safety activist, Redaa Ameeroedien, told IOL these gang wars are about guns, money, and power.
“We are going to get nowhere with these gangs unless a state of emergency is called. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has to take over and lead in the fight. The SAPS need to become the force multipliers and not as it is currently happening with SAPS leading this fight,” he said.
Currently, the SANDF has been deployed to the Cape Flats indefinitely under Operation Prospers. Despite the soldiers being deployed, the gang violence has not only continued but has escalated.
“We have over 150,000 gang members with about 90 - 130 different gangs on the Cape Flats. Most of the gangs take the police for a joke, and most times they get shot out of the area,” Ameeroedien said.
He was adamant that the war on gangs cannot be approached as it has been since its inception.
“Thus, battle cannot be fought or approached the same way as it has been for years. We have to change tactics for the betterment of our communities,” Ameeroedien added.
Most communities have already dismissed the deployment of the SANDF, calling it a waste of taxpayers’ money.
In a report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, its Gang Monitor has tracked accelerating gang fragmentation as a key factor driving violence in the Western Cape.
According to the report, internal instability, breakaway factions, and shifting alliances have been shown to increase volatility and complicate law enforcement responses. Recent monitoring suggested that fragmentation continues to be a defining feature of the gang landscape.
It said rather than an isolated event, fragmentation should be recognised as a structural process that is reshaping the way gangs in the Western Cape organise and compete.
According to the report, recent floor-crossing defections involving some of the Western Cape’s oldest and most powerful gangs are further fragmenting an already charged criminal landscape. Over the past quarter, members of the Americans, Hard Livings, Laughing Boys, and Mongrels have switched allegiances, resulting in retaliatory killings and internal conflict. While not a new phenomenon, floor-crossing is becoming increasingly common and playing a more prominent role in gang warfare.
What drives floor-crossing?
So, while the streets of the Cape Flats continue to bleed and innocent people continuously get struck in the crossfire, the only question residents continue to ask is: when will it stop?
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL