[imagesource: 123RF/ Pop Nukoonrat]

The Cape Flats and the surrounding areas have a reputation for being under siege from gang-related violence.

That’s a reputation that is sadly well-earned, with gangs boasting vast networks that stretch right across the country.

Gangsterism has never been a problem confined to the Western Cape, and residents of Mamelodi West are speaking out about being held hostage by the violence.

Community leader Apson Makaung told TimesLIVE that “there is no difference between the Cape Flats or KwaZulu-Natal and Mamelodi currently.”

Areas of KwaZulu-Natal have been dubbed ‘the killing fields’ as political murders continue unabated.

There have already been at least 10 deaths from shootings related to ongoing gang wars:

In the latest assassination, a man believed to be the head of the feared “Boko Haram” gang was shot dead on Tuesday afternoon.

Locals are calling the killer “John Wick” after the film franchise featuring Keanu Reeves as a vengeance killer.

“Here in Mamelodi, the thugs have won the battle against the state. They are not even afraid of police officials. Police are afraid of Boko Haram,” said Makaung.

The Boko Haram gang is also active in Khayelitsha, where it is known to extort informal traders into paying for “protection”.

Even the police are said to be powerless and have been for years dating back to a 2014 incident when the gang evicted residents from a hostel.

Having a “John Wick” to fight back against the gangsters might sound like something a community under siege would embrace, but violence often begets more violence.

Tuesday’s assassination saw the rumoured leader of the gang murdered in a flurry of bullets from a silver Mercedes-Benz on the N4 Highway near Diamond Hill toll plaza.

BREAKING NEWS | Tshwane📍

Alleged Boko Haram “boss” has been gunned down by “John Wick” this afternoon.#BokoHaram #JohnWick #Mamelodi pic.twitter.com/tjdHYpftZu

— Mamelodi Beacon (@MamelodiBeacon) October 26, 2021

A resident said she has “mixed emotions” about the killings:

“What has been going on now, we hear that they are busy finishing [killing] one another. We are shocked as to what is happening. I have mixed emotions about this. I cannot say I celebrate or I don’t celebrate, because I still feel pity for those children since I am a parent,” she said.

The gang runs a brutal protection racket. Shops and vendors are harassed and threatened into paying weekly or monthly fees in order to stay in business.

Makaung said gunshots have become so commonplace that children close to the hostel that Boko Harm controls just carry on playing when they hear them.

He also spoke of conflicted feelings towards a man who appears to be dishing out a form of vigilante justice:

“It is mixed feelings from the community because others are saying let them be eliminated because they are actually troubling us. Others are not happy, especially those who lost their families. There are so many people who have lost their families because of this kind of thing,” he said.

Some fear that the killings are being carried out by a rival gang, Bafarasai, which is battling Boko Haram for control of the township.

Whatever the case, there’s a community caught in the crossfire, in a story that has become all too familiar.

[source:timeslive]