[imagesource: Lee-Ann Olwage]

Law enforcement is already overwhelmed when it comes to dealing with the scourge of gangsterism in Cape Town and the Western Cape at large.

Residents in the Cape Flats speak about gangsters shooting to kill and even the police themselves aren’t safe, with a number of robberies at police stations targeting firearms.

If you’re interested in understanding the inner workings of South Africa’s Numbers gangs (the 26s, 27s, and 28s), Jonny Steinberg’s The Number is essential reading.

Steinberg’s book doesn’t include anything on the use of drones by these gangs, which shows how these criminal enterprises are evolving and upping the ante.

The Daily Maverick with more:

Gangsters have eyes in the sky and can discreetly monitor some of us from above. It is not only the South African Police Service that uses drone technology to track people.

Based on information from several sources with ties to security and policing, Daily Maverick understands that, aside from its high-calibre weapons, the 28s gang is one of the organised crime mobs with access to drones, meaning gang members can keep tabs on members, rivals and even cops.

Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said they have to fight fire with fire and “have resources at our disposal to deal with any occurrence we are faced with”.

Those resources must have been otherwise occupied when gangsters were threatening workers employed to fix the railway line in Bonteheuwel and Bishop Lavis.

One of the main hurdles to effectively policing the Numbers gangs remains the fact that they have corrupt cops on their side.

The September 2020 assassination of detective Charl Kinnear, who was investigating alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack as well as fellow police officers, is a classic example of the dangers of trying to uncover who has been corrupted.

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie, the current mayor of the Central Karoo District, is a former general of the 26s gang. He has, in the past, rubbished any suggestions that the PA is a party of gangsters.

[source:dailymav]