Gangs in South Africa
The history of
Many South African gangs began, and still exist, in urban areas. This includes cities like
History
Western Cape
Gangs rose to prominence in
In 2013, 12% of the 2,580 murders in the Western Cape were gang-related, which was an 86% increase from 2012. Children as young as the age of 14 were arrested on gang-related murder charges.[8] In 2019, 900 people have been murdered in the first half of the year in communities in the Cape Flats in the Western Cape;[9] by 2022 it was reported that the Black Axes gang had started operating in Cape Town.[10]
KwaZulu-Natal Factions
It is home to the number gangs, hostel organizations and section organizations. In the province of KwaZulu-Natal gangs have put themselves in a situation where they are regarded more as neighborhoods rather than gangs. Sections and Hostels were built by the Apartheid government as part of the Group Areas Act, with most people from these sections and hostels coming from different parts of the ZULU clans across KwaZulu-Natal. Hostels are more politically influenced and were involved in wars for political power during the 80s-2000s. The oldest sections/hostels date back to the early 1900s such as Dalton Hostel built in 1934. Hostels around Gauteng are connected to those in KwaZulu-Natal due to their heavy Zulu presence, as people in KwaZulu-Natal occupied those hostels during political wars in the 90s. Many people who occupied those hostels were Zulu people who fought under Inkatha Freedom Party during the 90s.
Rest of South Africa
In Johannesburg in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, many Black African communities were relocated and resettled, in Soweto in the Meadowlands and Diepkloof. Lenasia and Laudium became the hub of South Africa's most notorious yet secretive mafia family globally known as RMFO (Rasool Mafia Family Organisation) originally from Pietersburg (now Polokwane) which is the sanctuary of the infamous SAMA (South African Mafia Association) founded by Goolam Rasool (also known as "Moonshie") in the early 1900s establishing a balanced and stable network flow of criminal activities in the South African underworld
By the early 1960s, gang violence had escalated, which was counteracted by more policing and patrolling of non-white areas.[4]
Typology
The Safety Lab has identified four distinct categories that Cape Town based gangs can be divided into: Street gangs, Crews, Cliques, and Prison gangs.[11]
Street gangs
The largest and best known gang type in Cape Town are the street gangs that are mostly associated with poorer Coloured communities.
Prison gangs
Prison gangs in South Africa consist mostly of the Numbers Gangs discovered in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, a grouping of prison based gangs named after the different numbers they are named after; namely the 26s, 27s, and 28s.[11] These gangs tend to be highly structured with strong hierarchical command structures and high levels of organization.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Dziewanski, Dariusz. "It's hard to leave a Cape Town gang. But these men's stories show that it's possible". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ^ "Rising Cape Town Gang Violence Is Yet Another Legacy of Apartheid". Bloomberg.com. 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ^ Kaplan, Irving. Area Handbook for the Republic of South Africa (PDF). pp. 1–86. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-1452941813.
- ^ MacMaster, Llewellyn L. M. (March 2010). In search of a family : the challenge of gangsterism to faith communities on the Cape Flats (Thesis thesis). Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch.
- ISBN 0852556403.
- ^ "Recalling District Six". SouthAfrica.info. 19 August 2003.
- ^ "Fighting the gangs of South Africa's Western Cape". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ Friedman, Barbara (15 July 2019). "We find connections between gangs in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban". CapeTalk 567AM. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ Dolley, Caryn (2022-05-26). "CRIME SYNDICATE: US spooks hunt Black Axe members in SA linked to online dating and 419 scams". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ a b c d e Roloff, Nathanial (May 2014). "Gang Typologies of the Western Cape" (PDF). safetylab.org. The Safety Lab. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ Salo, Elaine. "Mans is Ma Soe: Ganging practices in Manenberg, South Africa and the ideologies of masculinity, gender and generational relations" (PDF). Retrieved 10 September 2019.