Increased gang violence in Hanover Park, where he grew up, has led to Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz’s call for a meeting with gangs.
“Gangs are part of the problem and must be part of the solution. We must get them to sit around a table and address the problem,” Fritz said on Sunday during a visit.
He said people in Hanover Park knew the township had a strong civic movement and community activism.
“When that declines, crime and gangs take over. There is nothing for our youth to do. We need to get our community organisations back,” he said.
Four people were shot dead and five others, including a two-year-old boy, were wounded during gang violence at the weekend. Police apprehended four suspects and seized a firearm.
Last weekend, three people were killed and five wounded in gang violence, according to a Community Policing Forum member.
Social Development MEC Patricia de Lille, who accompanied Fritz, said the Hanover Park community was clearly traumatised. A huge concern was that young children were recruited into gangs.
“We need a holistic approach. We all need to sit down together to address the issues – including talking to police,” she said.
While Hanover Park Day Hospital staff told Fritz about “another black weekend” and said they had tried their best to cope, Haniff Loonat, head of the Nyanga cluster Community-Police Forum Board, urged residents to alert police about gang violence.
A man had called him on Friday and told him that there would be violence at the weekend, Loonat said.
“He had us baffled and gave us wrong work and cellphone numbers. We did not know whether to believe him or not, but everything he said would happen, happened. I urge him to contact us. We guarantee he will be protected,” he said and added that a community meeting and an anti-crime march were planned.
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