Crime fighters on the Cape Flats have raised concerns about the increasing number of young children getting involved in crime on behalf of gang members during school holidays.
Also read: Stray bullet claims life of 17-year-old girl amid ongoing gang violence
According to Cape Flats community activist Lynn Phillips, kids are mostly used for drug trafficking in schools. ‘What we are also seeing is that if gangs recruit you, it doesn’t matter who you are and how young you are, you will be given a gun to shoot,’ Phillips told News24.
Instances of bystanders getting caught in gang crossfire have also been recorded in several areas, including Ottery, Manenberg, Grassy Park, Mitchells Plain and Hanover Park.
Hanover Park’s community policing forum (CPF) spokesperson Kashiefa Mohammed says youngsters are dying at the hands of other young kids who follow gang orders.
‘These kids drop out of school to join gangs. Children as young as 10 are walking with guns. What kind of life is that? They already swear and talk just like these older gangsters.’
‘They should be doing what normal kids do, like playing games and sports, but here in Hanover Park, joining gangs is the new thing. It’s quick money for the laaities (youngsters).’
She adds that many killings are done by young children but they are not caught because they are taught how to evade arrest.
‘If police catch them, they don’t get harsh punishments. Most of the time, they get sent back into the care of their parents or guardians. There are no real consequences. And that’s the problem because now, they are involved in illegal activities again.’
On 30 June, 17-year-old Shante Adams was killed by a stray bullet while sitting inside a wendy house with her friends in Hartenberg Street in Delft.
‘Alles is net te veel vir my (everything is just too much for me). I can’t take the killings, and now my child is gone,’ said her mother Griszelda.
She told News24 that she was asleep when a family member woke her up to give her the bad news. ‘Hulle het haar net so vrek geskiet (they shot her dead just like that). She and her friends were sitting in the house listening to music when the gangs started firing shots at them. But they thought it was stones being thrown at the wendy house.’
‘Only after a few minutes after the noise died down, did the gunshots go off again continuously. They then all ran for cover, but Shante got hit and died just there.’
Just two days before on 28 June, 19-year-old Moegamat Armien Hartsenberg was stabbed to death after robbers assaulted him near Camellia Street in Bonteheuwel.
Several crime fighters have come forward, asking parents to keep a close eye on their children during school holidays.
Lavender Hill CPF chairperson Gavin Walbrugh says the ongoing violence in parts of the suburb is claiming more and more young lives despite a police presence in the area.
‘The area is very big and it’s impossible to really pinpoint where the shootings are coming from, but any shooting is a concern,’ he told News24, adding that the CPF noticed a trend of increased violence during school holidays.
‘What we don’t understand is why this is so, but it has become an even bigger concern because innocent young lives are falling victim to these heinous crimes.’
Between 1 January and 12 June 2024, public health facilities in the Western Cape treated 333 children for firearm-related injuries. Of these, 58 died.
‘Three of these children, who died as a result of a firearm, are children under the age of three. While we do not have the full picture of 2024 to compare to previous years, we can compare child homicides due to firearms from 2022 to 2023,’ the Western Cape Department of Health said.
Between 2022 and 2023, the number of child deaths due to firearms increased from 83 to 89.
A study by the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital revealed that most children treated for gunshot wounds had ‘unintentional injuries’, such as being caught in gang crossfire.
Also read:
4 shot, alleged leader arrested as gang wars erupt across Cape Flats
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