Cape Town - Hanover Park residents have once again expressed frustration over the high level of gang violence in the area after heavy gunfire on Saturday resulted in chaos across the community and a car being petrol-bombed.
Residents said mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis had been to the area multiple times over the past few months yet authorities such as the City’s law enforcement, police officers and Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers continued to turn a blind eye when it came to real issues of ongoing violence and crime in coloured communities.
Hanover Park Residents Association chairperson Denver Andrews gave some insight into the cause behind the violence on Saturday when he said the “Ghettos” gang had apparently encroached on the netball field in Ryberg Road and started shooting randomly at anything that moved, which led to subsequent retaliation by the Americans’ gang.
Andrews said this chaos ultimately led to a car being petrol-bombed, a house being burned down and numerous shoot-outs at both the young and old.
“The gang violence is predominantly happening among the Americans and Ghetto gangs. It’s a tit-fortat retaliation situation as key gang members of both gangs continue to perish in the conflict. This is a red zone and has been for a long time,” said community activist Roberto Stemmet.
Shireen Hendricks, head chairperson of 13 neighbourhood watches in
Hanover Park, said they saw crime on a daily basis, yet their pleas for social and structural interventions went unheard as Hill-Lewis and safety and security Mayco member JP Smith praised the peacefulness of the area during their visit to Hanover Park with ward councillor Antonio van der Rheede a few weeks ago.
“The community has lost complete faith and trust in the police. Residents, including children, are terrorised and traumatised at the moment, and in need of serious counselling interventions,” Stemmet said.
NPO Alcardo Andrews foundation founder and community activist Avril Andrews agreed and said that besides the community’s frustration with the ineffective response to gang violence, children and adults were left traumatised and it felt as though authorities had turned their back on the community.
Smith said the Hanover Park community was indeed let down by the failure of police and the criminal justice system, which was why the City stepped in to fill the gap and do what they could to protect residents.
“The City has dedicated a level of policing resources to Hanover Park. The City previously piloted the gunfire detection technology there and we are currently out to tender to reinstate that technology. The 100 Leap officers have made consistent and impressive arrests and confiscation of firearms,” Smith said.
However, numerous community members have said Leap officers, police and other law enforcement officers sometimes refused to engage when gang violence erupted.