Cynthia Smith stands outside her house in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain on Monday morning, shortly before police minister Bheki Cele’s visit to the area. She says it has been five years since her son and his best friend were killed because they were mistaken for rival gangsters.
Smith has lived in Tafelsig for almost 35 years. In that time, the area has changed from bushy, open fields into closely built houses in an area that has been overrun by crime, gangsterism and drugs.
On 29 August 2014 her son Enrique Smith and his friend Ryan Matthews, who both were in their 20s, were killed because they were mistaken as rivals from another gang in the area, “simply because they were in the road”, said Smith. A month later Matthews’ brother was also murdered in Mitchell’s Plain, said Smith.
Smith told Daily Maverick the deployment of the army was a good idea. “When I see this visibility of the police there’s hope,” but she stressed there needed to be major shifts in the mentality and education of those living in her area to combat crime and gangsterism.
“We need role models for the youngsters — that’s what they need,” stressed Smith.
In the 2017/2018 financial year, there were 28,676 crimes reported at the Mitchell’s Plain Police Station, including 246 attempted murder cases, 1,574 common assaults, 275 cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and 4,930 drug-related cases.
In July 2019, during his departmental budget speech, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that the presidency had approved the deployment of just over 1,300 SANDF personnel into areas on the Cape Flats to support police operations. Mitchell’s Plain is one of 10 areas where SANDF personnel are mandated to help the police over the next three months.
On Monday, on a field in Tafelsig, opposite Smith’s house, Cele briefed the media on the progress of the deployment of the SANDF into the Cape Flats. Through joint operations with defence staff, there have been 1,004 arrests — including those of 806 suspects wanted by the police — 45 firearms and 78 knives confiscated. Cele said the SANDF assisted with raids, cordoning off areas and helping with search warrants.
The police minister said it was early days and there was still work to be done to help fight crime. Aside from crime, socio-economic issues such a lack of housing, poor lighting and learners who were not at school needed to be addressed to help rid communities of gang violence.
While the military deployment was helping to address crime, “the presence of soldiers can’t be a permanent solution”, said Cele.
After the briefing, the police minister and his entourage conducted a walk-about in Town Centre, the Mitchells Plain business hub. This caused a frenzy among traders and those making their way to the nearby taxi rank. One stall owner, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Maverick she had been working in Town Centre for about 20 years and had seen a rise in crime, particularly robberies at peak hours in the morning and afternoon.
“Elke dag gaanit so,” (every day it goes like this) she said, as onlookers gawked, trying to see what was happening. The vendor said even while police were patrolling in and around Town Centre, gangsters would simply wait until the police were gone to rob people. Just a few weeks ago a trader had been killed, but no arrests have been made.
“They (gangsters) killed him — that man was married, had children,” the vendor said.
The woman’s daughter was also robbed at the end of July 2019 as she walked to the taxi rank on her way to work at 5.30am.
The vendor pointed out a woman who was shouting at her to keep quiet: “She is one of those who steal.”
The alleged thief blended into the crowd as they watched the police minister, wondering what he was doing there. An onlooker shouted:
“Al die boere vir een man. (All these cops for one man)”.
As Cele visited Mitchell’s Plain, the Western Cape government said there had been 47 murders recorded in the Cape Town metropolitan region over the past weekend.
“We will be writing to police management to request a full report-back on the role and effectiveness of the SANDF since their deployment, as well as SAPS plans to fight crime in the province,” said Western Cape premier Alan Winde. DM