Tavern shootings: Townships on edge, but is worse yet to come?

Township streets have been gripped by fear following the recent spate of random violence, with some popular drinking holes in Pretoria left deserted at the weekend

In Atteridgeville, West of the city centre, some tavern patrons armed themselves with guns, in case of an attack.

“I am not going to stand by and be killed without fighting back. I want to be able to defend myself when I get that chance,” said taxi driver Lucky Motsweni.

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He said the fact that a group of five people planned and carried out the massacre of 16 unarmed patrons at Mdlalose Tavern in Soweto, without being intercepted by crime intelligence was telling.

“The sooner we accept that we are on our own, the better. We can no longer rely on the state. Criminals attack police stations, hold up police officers and steal guns. What do you expect? We are sitting ducks and criminals are doing as they please,” Motsweni said.

Sitting in a Toyota quantum minibus, he and seven other patrons took turns going into the packed Le Ashma Pub, while two remain behind to watch out for suspicious vehicles.

“If people march in with guns, at least we will be able to act in time, unlike when we are all caught off guard,” Motsweni said.

Watering hole deserted

Though it is infamous for violence, Lempe tavern has always remained very popular, as it operates throughout the night and accommodates patrons from other local spots that have to close.

This past weekend it was completely deserted, except for a trickle of customers, like Musa Dube, coming in and out with their takeaways.

“This is the place to be every weekend, but after what happened in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Soweto recently, I do not feel safe anymore,” he said.

This is the reason the security guard and a group of friends, regulars at Lempe tavern, decided to buy their drinks and spend the weekend at one of the friends’ home.

However, other taverns, like the Belle Belle Tavern and Restaurant in Block GG in Soshanguve, North of the city was teeming with seemingly carefree patrons.

Sheila Ndou, 25, a regular at the spot, said she was uneasy after the Soweto tavern massacret, but insists it could have happened anywhere.

She said the biggest problem was the failure of law enforcement agencies to investigate and get to the bottom of incidents such as the July unrest and make arrests speedily.

“You cannot have a situation where 354 people are killed and no one is arrested. We still do not know who killed those people. What would stop someone from randomly shooting people in a shopping centre? It is frightening,” Ndou said.

Worst still to come

University of the Free State anthropologist Professor Theodore Petrus said South Africans have every reason to live in fear of anarchy and that indications were that the worst was yet to come.

“We can no longer really avoid what is coming unless drastic changes are made, and I do not see that happening, with the current bunch of leadership, in the near future. That leaves us with the bleak prospects of having to prepare ourselves to witness very similar, if not worst, events as what happened last year and rising levels of violent,” he said.

Petrus said the rising tide of crime and violent criminality was a culmination of decades of leadership and structural challenges.

“The problem is that these things are not new. We are not talking about things that are only happening now, we are talking about things that have been coming along now for decades and they remain unresolved, and what happens is that the consequences of these unresolved issues just compound more and more each year,” Petrus said.

Country a powder keg

He said the country’s woes were compounded by rising costs of living, load shedding, and fuel prices reaching unheard-of levels. He believes all this should be seen in the context of the developments in Sri Lanka.

Petrus said the only question that needs to be asked now was what it is going to look like when these issues reach saturation point and could no longer be contained.

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“I think we are speedily approaching the point where we can no longer contain people frustrations, anger, and resentment and on the other side of the coin those that want to see the country descending to anarchy because of what they can gain from that situation,” he said.

According to Petrus, the dysfunctional society is the reflection of instability in the government and governing party, adding that the SA Police Service has new leadership but it seems many of the historic challenges still remain.

“So as long as those challenges remain unresolved, Saps will continue to be ineffective against the rising tide of crime and criminality,” he added.

• siphom@citizen.co.za