By Thakira Desai

“Here in Elsies River we are afraid to work with the police – we can help the police, but there is good and bad police – So please, please, please minister come back in a months’ time!”

That was the impassioned pleas from Elsie’s River residents, reeling after a callous and brutal gang shooting, which claimed the lives of three people.  On Thursday, community members of Leonsdale in Elsies River came out in their numbers for the official visit of newly appointed minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, to the crime scene where 13 people were shot on Monday night. The incident which occurred at approximately 8:45 pm resulted in the death of three of the wounded; Fernand Williams, Anthony Philips, and David Classen.

According to witnesses, occupants of two vehicles, a red Audi and an Uno opened fire on a group of people who were believed to have been celebrating an event, playing cards and drinking, in Tiara Road. While the investigation into the murders continues, incensed residents are saying ‘enough is enough’.

Speaking to VOC News, a tearful Jacquilin Classen, whose son David succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday evening, is urging all spheres of government to assist in ridding communities of the unrivalled level of violence, which is challenging the quality of life of residents.

“My son and husband, Jacobus, were both shot on Monday. My son was playing cards with the other boys and my husband came down to bring him the phone,” said Classen, as she described the moments before her son and husband was gunned down.

David’s grieving siblings say they wish the Ministry of Police had been proactive and clamped down on gangs and criminals before Monday’s tragedy occurred.

While remaining apathetic about the expected impact of the ministers visit to the crime scene, his siblings are trying to be hopeful that authorities will be proactive in the fight against gangsterism in the Cape Flats.

“Actions speak louder than words. I wanted [the minister] to do something before this visit. We live in fear now,” David’s eldest sister stated.

Describing her son as a ‘happy child’, Classen says that while she has to accept her son’s fate, she wants him to be remembered for the kind person that he was.

In response to minister Mbalula’s address at the crime scene, residents in unison spoke of the pain at having to bury the children of their community.

One mother, whose son narrowly missed the bombardment of bullets after those who were shot collapsed on top of him, says that despite an Elsies River police officer arriving on the scene, the officer fled the scene without attempting to intervene – something she described as unbelievable and deeply disturbing.

“If [the victims] were gangsters then we would be as surprised, but none of the children were gangsters – it is not right! As a mother of five sons, must our kids be imprisoned in their homes?” she stressed.

“Those children that died, they grew-up in front of us, so it is painful to bury them. That could have been one of my sons – now something must be done. If SAPS [South African Police Service] wants us to work with them, then they must work with us.”

Addressing the media at the Elsies River police station, only a short distance from the crime scene, Minister Mbalula assured the community that SAPS is doing everything within its powers to deal with the level of crime within the cape flats.

“We cannot allow society to be gripped in fear by criminals and gangsters, who run amok in our communities and kill innocent citizens. SAPS, in terms of all resources in their power, and all departments is working hard to entice children away from gangsterism,” Mbalula noted.

Describing the scourge of crime on the Cape Flats as ‘a war that won’t be won over night’, he says SAPS will sharpen its methods of operation, in particular at grass roots level.

“We can assure you that we will be on [criminals] cases and ensure that they have unbearable lives.”

Mbalula in his visit to the home of Classen assured the slain father’s mother, girlfriend, and sisters, that the department will assist them and the families of all the victims in dealing within their trauma.

Answering concerns of residents, MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape, Dan Plato, questioned the role of South Africa’s intelligence forces in the influx of guns within Cape Flats communities.

He further urged SAPS to investigate and bring to book criminals.

“Looking at police intelligence, why is it that our intelligence forces allow so much gangs, drugs and guns to enter Western Cape?” Plato urged.

Meanwhile, deputy chair of the Elsies River Community Policing Forum, Imraan Mukkadam urged government to deal with the lived experiences on the Cape Flats, where communities are increasingly living in fear.

“If it was in any other situation then the appropriate language for Monday night’s occurrence would be called a terrorist attack – if a few white children were shot randomly on the Sea Point promenade it would be called an act of terrorism,” Mukkadam stated.

Commenting on the language used when referring to crime in the Cape Flats, Mukaddam asserts that the term ‘gangsterism’ is no longer suitable for the extreme level of violence that residents continue to face.

“The moment we hear ‘gang related’, we switch off – ‘ag that’s a culture in the Cape Flats’- because of that, the response is always inadequate to the urgency of the situation. We need to change the language – this is a threat to our national security and we need to unleash all the agencies of state because it undermines the functioning of the state,” Mukkadam continued.

VOC 91.3fm