[imagesource: Phando Jikelo / African News Agency]

Last week, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops arrived on the Cape Flats, with residents cheering their arrival.

Given the conditions that residents have been forced to live under (some ate dinner sat on the floor for fear of being struck by a stray bullet), the army’s arrival will come as a godsend.

Sadly, though, those who really call the shots say that the army’s presence doesn’t matter, with some Cape Flats gang bosses going as far as to welcome their presence.

Here’s IOL:

A member of the Dixie Boys said: “Die army moet maar kom, my girl, ons kannie nog worry nie. (The army can come my girl, we can’t be bothered.)

“You know, people keep calling us (drug) dealers, we’re not dealers but small business owners. Yes, we may be going to be a bietjie swak (with the army here) but ons gat aan.”(“We may suffer a bit with the army here, but we will carry on.”)

The gangster, in fact, welcomed the army, saying: “Too many innocent people are being killed. It’s right that the army is coming, this will stop all the shooting and make it safer for people to just live in peace.”

The Junky Funky Kidz (JFK) say they’re also unbothered about the army, with one member bragging that they’re “invincible”.

“This won’t touch us. We’re too big and we’ve got factions. We look after our people (community).

“Ja, you get those that kla (complain) but do you think people are going to stand against those who feed them? Nee, my girl,” he says.

The gangster says police corruption plays a major role in the “success of their business”.

“Die boere is klaar so vuil. (The cops are already so corrupt.) Why do you think they never find anything?” he says.

“They do drugs, they suip (drink) and like to borrow money and who gives it to them? All we ask from them is that we are kept aware of what happens.”

Pretty much the same attitude that was on display last time the army rolled into Manenberg, 21 years ago.

Another gangster added that members who kill innocent people are dealt with by the gangs themselves, with another calling the army “kinner kak” (children’s shit).

The Americans gang (pictured above) deals mostly in illegal firearms and ammunition, dagga, tik, mandrax and sex workers, and they’re rally not fussed by the presence of armed forces:

“I have safe houses and have been able to view the activity of all Law Enforcement officers.

“We do not stop business because things get hot. The army will come and go, but people’s needs will always be there.”

You can read more reactions from gang members here.

Many say they are businesspeople, not murderers, but it was another deadly weekend across the city. 25 people were killed, including an on-duty police officer in Delft who was attacked by a lone gunman.

Much has been written and said about the effectiveness of bringing in the troops. On the Daily Maverick, there’s an interesting article written by Shaun Shelly, who serves on the management advisory committee for the International Drug Policy Consortium and sits on a number of boards and advisory groups, locally and internationally.

You can read that in full here, but this is how he finishes:

If we are to find meaningful solutions, we need to face some realities: given the context, the use of drugs and the attraction of gangs is, from some perspectives, a logical choice. No interventions will ever stop the desire for drugs and gangs, but we can make the use of drugs less appealing, less harmful and, in some cases, beneficial. We can encourage pro-social gangs that build communities instead of breaking them down.

But, to do this, we need to sit down and talk to our mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles and children who use drugs and who have joined gangs. By bringing in the army, these people are no longer family and community members, they are the enemy, and by turning them into the enemy, we have turned the rest of the community into targets.

One can’t really blame authorities for taking the drastic step of enlisting the help of SANDF troops, because these communities were crying out for help and innocent people were dying.

Clearly, any long-term fix requires a more grassroots approach, and there may be detrimental consequences to sending in the troops.

For now, if it helps terrorised residents sleep a little easier at night, it’s hard to argue against it.

[sources:iol&dailymaverick]