BLF makes a six-point proposal to end gangsterism without involving military guns

Black First Land First (BLF) has proposed a plan that it has said will end gangsterism in the Western Cape and consequently create jobs. The party said the government’s decision to send the military exposed its “weakness” in assuming that gangsters were the problem.

But it was socioeconomic conditions directly created by colonialism and apartheid that made gangsterism thrive, argued the party.

“Until we eradicate these conditions, gangsterism shall continue to fester and thrive. Government cannot police poverty out of existence. Meaningful steps are necessary if government is serious. One thing for sure, we are in a deep crisis right now,” it said in a statement.

As a result, the party came up with a six-point plan which should be seen as a “multi-layer intervention” strategy that emphasised socioeconomics as a priority:

1. Make peace amongst warring groups (make immediate intervention).

2. Undertake a massive social reconstruction program (build schools, hospitals, houses, roads, colleges, etc).

3. Through this social reconstruction program, create mass employment (cut unemployment by up to 80% within two years).

4. Undertake upskilling of the youth through further training.

5. Create and protect local industries so as to diversify employment opportunities and ensure sustainability.

6. The military must not come in with guns but must unleash skills and development in conjunction with the community.

The party advocated for gangsterism to be ended through development, rather than sending the military.

“Gangsterism is a function of the neoapartheid reality of the Western Cape. For the Western Cape to remain the enclave of white opulence, it needs to divert attention through structurally promoting gangsterism. Gang warfare distracts us from addressing the legacies of colonialism and apartheid,” it said.

Police Minister Bheki Cele said late last year that the issue of gangsterism was far beyond the issue of policing in Cape Town and more of a societal issue.

Cele held a media briefing following the release of the national crime statistics for 2017/2018 in parliament, which showed an increase in murder and attempted murder crimes.

The statistics showed the Western Cape rated the highest in gang-related murders in the country with a total of 808 recorded killings.

He said gangsterism had one of the oldest histories in South Africa, especially in Cape Town where the culture was also supported by parents.

He said: “I went to Kraaifontein one day, this guy is 17 years old, they killed his brother instead of him. They came to search for him and found the brother and they shot and killed the brother. I was really sympathetic and I told the boy not to worry and the boy said ‘no I won’t worry, I go and shoot his mother’.”

He said that the boy was also encouraged by his mother who also said she would order her son to go and commit the crime.

“His mother said: ‘Ja [yes] he must shoot his mother because his mother told her boy to come and shoot me, so I will tell my boy to shoot her’,” Cele said.

“Now what do you do with this culture where mothers, let alone just the community, but where mothers support it. So the issue of gangsters is far beyond the issue of policing in Cape Town. Policing can do all but gangsterism is a more societal issue than it is police, even the law issue.”

Cele said that “everybody agreed in South Africa that we had a problem with gangsterism”.

“There are gangsters who are gangsters because they saw it in the house, that’s the only reason that they are gangsters. There are gangsters that are gangsters because their whole peers are gangsters, and that’s the only reason,” he said, adding that one of the challenges in dealing with the crime was that the gangsters were young boys.

“Now police do arrest these gangsters, what does the court say to us… bring them back home to their mothers, that’s what the law says.”

(Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde, Additional reporting by ANA)

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