[imagesource: Breton Geach / Telegraph]

Earlier this year, SANDF forces rolled into the Cape Flats amidst great fanfare.

Residents of the gang-plagued areas hoped that the presence of army forces would deter gangsters from engaging in open warfare, but it soon became apparent that wouldn’t be the case.

Many who live in the midst of the war zone have spoken out about the ineffectiveness of the troops, and it’s impossible not to sympathise with the mothers of the (mostly) young men caught in the crossfire.

Some of these mothers have formed a group, Moms Move for Justice, and the Daily Maverick is now running a series of stories from the viewpoint of these heartbroken women.

Thi story features Natasha Mulumba (below), mother of Nathaniel Hendricks:

Growing up in Mitchells Plain, he tutored his cousins, helping them with their homework after school. But last year, when he was buying airtime two houses down the road from his home, a stray bullet put an end to his bright young life. Aged 14, he fell down on the pavement, brain dead.

“Two guys were shooting at each other,” recalls [Natasha].

Thom Pierce

“He was just walking to the shop to buy airtime, with his female cousin. It was just past 7pm and starting to get dark. Nathaniel was, like, ‘I don’t want you to walk alone, let me go with you.’ They were standing at the shop when the first shot went off, with Nathaniel falling flat. But it was disorienting and Nathaniel got up to run, so another bullet caught him in the back of his head. He dropped to the ground, instantly brain dead.”

…“They took him to Groote Schuur where scans showed he is dead, but we had to wait 24 hours to legally declare that. A part of his brain, a lady said it was lying in the driveway.”

Tragically, stories like these are all too familiar, and the gangs’ stronghold over the Flats and surrounds is only growing.

The infamous ‘Terrible Josters’ talk about having a 10 000-strong operation spread around the Western Cape, and in a number of areas, gangs are openly battling for control.

A 15-year-old was killed in a gang shootout in Ottery on Monday, caught between the crossfire, four people were killed in a shootout in Mitchells Plain last week, with the scene described as a ‘bloodbath’, and a Hanover Park mother of three was killed in crossfire on Monday.

In short, we are losing this battle.

When you have a moan about something today, remember for a second the dangers faced by some Capetonians just trying to go about their daily lives.

[source:dailymaverick]