Living in fear: The impact of gang shootings on families in Hanover Park

The month of September has seen close to 500 gang-related shootings reported in the Western Cape with families forced to live under siege and survive.

In Hanover Park last weekend, matriculants dressed for their big night as bullets ripped through the streets while parents prayed their children make it home safely from school.

Hanover Park Community Policing Forum (CPF) media liaison Kashiefa Mohammed said children were are too afraid to play outside while residents slept and woke up to gunfire.

A recent gun violence incident saw a Grade R teacher at Yellowwood Primary in Mitchells Plain calming her learners as bullets rang out outside the school.

Former gang leader Shewaan “Tantjies” Jumat started a gang at 14, and ran drug operations for nearly two decades and now spends his time trying to keep others from following the same path.

Jumat shared: “My dream is to work with children. I want to visit as many schools as possible and to talk to them and consult with them."

Moutie Abrahams, who grew up in Wynberg and has lived in Surrey Estate since 1974, is preparing to celebrate his 64th birthday in a few weeks’ time and said the gang shootings has worsened since his youth.

Abrahams added: “In my time, if the gangs fought they would fight amongst themselves and there were a few innocent people who were killed due to gang related shootings. 

According to research by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (Gi-Toc) analyst Brandon Davis, the surge in shootings is linked to gangs splitting and new ones emerging.

“There are many reasons for these splits, it could be due to internal conflict about the way the gang is being run, leading to the formation of factions and ultimately leading to these groups breaking away," David explained.

Davis explained: “For example, in Hanover Park, the Americans gang split, leading to the formation of the Incredibly Gifted Bastards (IGBs). This led to vicious gang wars in the area between the two gangs.”

Another contributing issue is that guns and ammunition are more readily available.

Davis said this was not the case before former police official Christiaan Prinsloo stationed in Vereeniging in Gauteng sold more than 2 000 guns to gangs on the Cape Flats, which were linked to 1000 murders.

Prior to this saga guns were usually kept by senior gang members and only handed out when a shooting or assassination needed to take place and would be returned afterwards: “Guns are coming in from numerous sources, mostly domestically from civilians, private security, the police and the military. 

“The number of bullets fired during shooting incidents have increased drastically over the past few years. 

“This is because gangs simply buy bullets from the legal market, either from friends or family who have gun licenses, or from security companies they have ties to.”

He adds that another factor includes the Fancy Boys gang who have been expanding rapidly across the province, poaching other gang members, arming them and contesting rivals' territories.

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