SAfrica crime police gangs army,FOCUS
14 Ağustos 2019 - 15:13
S.Africa's show of force in Cape Town ganglands brings little relief
By Amy GIBBINGS
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ATTENTION - Pictures by Marco Longari. Video by Saawmiet Moos ///
Cape Town, Aug 14, 2019 (AFP) - Waving and giggling, crowds of children
scamper behind a Casspir military armoured truck trailed by police vehicles as
they snake through the streets on a raid in the gang-ridden Cape Flats area of
South Africa.
A few blocks down the road, the rifle and shield-brandishing forces hop off
their vehicles and meander through lines of hanging laundry, before swooping
in on a cluster of apartment buildings suspected to be crime hotspots.
South Africa in July deployed some 1,300 soldiers to shore up the police
forces which has been battling deadly gang violence ravaging the area.
Situated on the southeastern outskirts of the touristic city of Cape Town,
the Cape Flats area comprises multiple townships where blacks and people of
mixed race were condemned to live by the oppressive apartheid regime.
It has become one of the most dangerous places in South Africa, plagued by
gangsterism and under-resourced policing.
But a month after their deployment, the troops appear to have brought
little relief for the crime-weary and poverty-stricken community.
"Everybody was elated when they heard the news that the army was going to
come in because the situation was so dire, that anything to improve the
situation would have helped," said Kader Jacobs, who heads a community
policing forum in Manenberg township.
People had expected a roll-out of large scale lockdowns with specific
targeting of well-known criminal hotspots and gang leaders but "there's been
none of this".
"The people aren't seeing any major changes or improvements in the area,"
said the frustrated community leader.
- Working with intelligence -
Police statistics say murders in the Western Cape province rose 6.3 percent
to nearly 4,000 in the year up to April 2019.
A new report on urban safety released by the South African Cities Network
this year, showed Cape Town recorded the highest murder rates in the country
at 69 people killed per 100,000 -- double the national average of rate
recorded last year.
"They send in the army but the army can't do anything," said 50-year-old
Sally-Anne Jacobs who lost both her son and 19-year-old cousin to gang
violence over the past four years.
"The army is here but I don't know how far they can go to minimise the
killings on the Cape Flats," she said.
Bowing to pressure from local government, community and social
organisations after 43 murders were recorded in just one weekend in July,
President Cyril Ramaphosa cleared a temporary three-month military deployment.
Working with intelligence gathered from community members and other
sources, the military goes in and secures parameters allowing the police to
raid and arrest - at times evoking applause from neighbours.
But the numbers of killings have not reduced much.
Despite the army presence over the past month, 47 deaths were reported on
the second weekend of August -- making it the deadliest weekend since the
infantry arrived.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said while "it's not an ideal world to send
soldiers into communities," there has been more than 1,000 arrests so far for
various crimes including attempted murder, robbery and hijackings.
In addition, police have seized 45 firearms and 1,036 rounds of ammunition.
Even with such mass arrests, locals continue to live in fear and suspect
may cases won't be thoroughly investigated.
"Half of the detectives in the province have a caseload of 200 dockets or
more, when the ideal number is between 50 and 60," provincial minister Alan
Winde said.
- 'No major changes' -
Social activist of the Manenberg Safety Forum charity, Roegchanda Pascoe is
also not impressed.
"From what I've seen the army hasn't done much. Minimal to nought impact
has been measured. Two guns in the last operation were found out of the many
artillery we know is out on the streets," she said.
There's more to curbing crime than just military show of force, according
to Pascoe.
"The social fabric of our communities has broken down entirely. We sit with
broken families, with unemployment, teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol
abuse."
But the police minister says it is still "early days" of the operation as
he warned gangsters that "your days are numbered."
Costing the taxpayer $1.4 million (1.25 million euros), the operational
expense "would be worth it if it led to a long-term disruption in violence,"
said Andrew Faull, a researcher with the Pretoria-based think-tank Institute
of Security Studies (ISS).
But so far the military deployment according to Faull is akin to a
"political theatre".
"They are being seen to do things but they are just going through the
motions. So it's performative politics."
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