Residents tell Mashatile gang violence still terrorising Tafelsig despite Operation Prosper

Residents of Tafelsig in Mitchells Plain say gang violence, shootings and killings continue to terrorise their community despite the deployment of police and SANDF members under Operation Prosper.

The concerns were raised on Wednesday, during Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s oversight visit to gang-affected areas on the Cape Flats, including Tafelsig, Lentegeur and Gugulethu.

Mashatile, accompanied by senior police officials, SANDF members and deputy ministers, visited the communities to assess progress made under the anti-gang intervention initiative launched earlier this year to combat gangsterism, shootings and organised crime in Cape Town communities.

Residents gathered along Bainskloof Street in Tafelsig during the walkabout, where community members said the bodies of young people had recently been collected following shootings in the area.

During the visit, long-time Tafelsig resident Lelanie Baardman said many residents still did not feel safer despite the heavily publicised operation.

"We don’t see the army here. They are never active here. If the government cared about our communities, then they would be here and aware about the bodies that we are seeing every day," she said.

Baardman, who said she has lived in Tafelsig for 40 years, described the level of violence in the community as devastating for parents and children.

"Our children are dying in these streets. It kills me as a mom to see children’s bodies. These visits once in a while are not helping. I am a fed up mother of children being killed every day," she said.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said young people in the area remained vulnerable to gangs because of unemployment, school dropouts and a lack of recreational programmes.

Western Cape Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile said authorities had already recorded reductions in gang-related violence in several hotspot policing areas since the launch of Operation Prosper.

"We are currently in phase one of Operation Prosper and we have seen a reduction in a majority of the police stations that were most affected by gang-related violence," Patekile said.

Patekile said police were intensifying intelligence gathering to target gang leaders, criminal financiers and organised crime structures operating in affected communities.

He added that police were also focusing on extortion, taxi violence and organised criminal activity linked to gangs.

Speaking during the visit, Mashatile said government remained committed to stabilising communities affected by gangsterism and violent crime on the Cape Flats.

"Operation Prosper is operating in these areas in the Cape Flats to deal with gangsterism, violence and drugs. I came with deputy ministers and police leadership to get a first-hand briefing and to indicate that they have our support and the support of the president," he said.

Mashatile said the success of the intervention depended on cooperation between communities and law enforcement agencies.

He also urged residents to assist authorities in identifying those supplying guns and drugs in communities.

The deputy president committed to returning to the Cape Flats as government continued anti-gang interventions in the province.

Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.

Cape Argus