A short way into Manenberg’s eponymous main road, a crowd of people stopped this reporter on his way to finding out more on the weekend’s surge in gang violence in the area. The small crowd that gathered was wary, until a matriarch informed them that I meant no trouble and proceeded to introduce those gathered. Among them a Hard Livings gangster, whose brethren are currently involved in the fight against the Americans gang that saw eight lives taken over Easter.

Speaking anonymously, but we can call him Shanie instead, he said: “The first time I was in a gang fight, I think I was about nine years old. The first time I held a gun I was ten and at eleven was when I hurt someone in a gang fight, I was taken away for fifteen years, I got out only last year. And now I’m back to doing those things. But, all we want here is peace and freedom for Manenberg.”

But he blames the Americans gang for the recent fight, which comes after a hard fought, and won, peace treaty that was in effect until the conflict flared up again last week.

Joined by others, also HLs, Shanie says they’re all unemployed, having to hustle to buy enough milk and bread to get by. He says that is why they turn to the gang life, selling drugs, gambling and protecting their territory against others. But he says they only fight to defend themselves.

“They shoot from over there,” he says pointing down Manenberg Avenue, “blindly, while there are people outside here, children even. But they target us, and what are we supposed to do, let them? No we let it rain down on them from here, we have to defend ourselves.”

VOC News spoke to some members of the Americans gang, who wished to stay off the record. They, rebounded the blame back to the HLs gang, saying an offence was caused by one of theirs, which was the source of the recent outburst of gun violence. VOC (Andriques Che Petersen)