SOUTH AFRICA-CAPE GANGS Former gangsters work to end violence in Cape Town's crime lands

Record ID: 147410

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA-CAPE GANGS Former gangsters work to end violence in Cape Town's crime lands
  • Date: 14th July 2015
  • Summary: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VIEW OF TABLE MOUNTAIN AT DUSK HOUSE IN HANOVER PARK/ WOMAN LIFTS CHILD MEN PREPARING DRUGS/ WOMEN WITH CHILDREN LOOKING ON MAN PREPARING DRUGS MAN TAKING A HIT WOMAN WITH BREASTFEEDING CHILD TAKING DRUGS MAN AFTER TAKING DRUGS VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF "CEASEFIRE" KNOWN AS "VIOLENCE INTERRUPTERS STANDING IN STREET TALKING TO YOUTH T-SHIRT READING "LETS CHANGE THE ENDING" MAN SMOKING A CIGARETTE T-SHIRT READING "STOP THE SHOOTINGS" KIDS SHOWING GANG SIGNS GRAFFITI ON PAVEMENT NEALON PETERSEN, FORMER GANG LEADER, NOW A CEASEFIRE VIOLENCE INTERRUPTER WALKING THROUGH NEIGHBOURHOOD CHILD RUNNING ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEALON PETERSEN, FORMER GANG LEADER AND NOW CEASEFIRE VIOLENCE INTERRUPTER SAYING: "I was 17 years old when I was involved with my first murder. Threw a drain cover on a guy's head. About seven or eight times, made sure he was dead." PETERSEN'S SUNGLASSES (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEALON PETERSEN, FORMER GANG LEADER AND NOW CEASEFIRE VIOLENCE INTERRUPTER SAYING: "1991 I got an 18-year jail sentence for shooting nine people and I was about 11 months into my jail sentence and my appeal came through and my sentence changed to two years imprisonment, then I came out in 1993 on the 11th of the 11th month and I decided God had given me another chance." VARIOUS OF TATTOOS ON PETERSON'S CHEST, STOMACH AND LEG (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEALON PETERSEN, FORMER GANG LEADER AND NOW CEASEFIRE VIOLENCE INTERRUPTER, SAYING: "CeaseFire had a hell of an impact on my life and I am still busy working with the guys, changing their norms, changing their minds. Whatever I can do for them, I do for them because the passion.. I mean I have got a passion to work with the people." VARIOUS OF PETERSON TALKING TO RESIDENTS CRAVEN ENGEL, HEAD OF CEASEFIRE IN HIS OFFICE WITH HIS GRAND DAUGHTER ZAHRA TALKING: ZAHRA: "Did they shoot?" ENGEL: "Yes they did shoot, but they didn't shoot someone, they just shooting across on one another, but they didn't shoot somebody." ZAHRA: "Can we hear?" ENGEL: "Yes you can hear." AUDIO OF SHOTS ENGEL: "There you can see, and you know, the children was just playing in the park and when they were shooting, all the children had to run off. You must always be careful when you walk around on the road." (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRAVEN ENGEL, HEAD OF CEASEFIRE SAYING: "Unfortunately gangsterism affects children very negatively. But at this point in time, children unfortunately look up to some of the high-risk individuals, they become mentors in their environment and that is the only thing that sort of stands out for them." NEWSPAPER CUTTINGS ON WALL READING: "CAPE'S MOST DANGEROUS STREET"/ "I HAVE SHOT SO MANY PEOPLE I CANNOT EVEN REMEMBER HOW MANY" (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRAVEN ENGEL, HEAD OF CEASEFIRE SAYING: "We use the interrupters to educate them and say - this is the beginning of gangsterism, but this will be the end of gangsterism so they are clearly educated about it but its got a negative effect on them you know, and it traumatises kids, it traumatises the seniors, it traumatises families and it disrupts the whole community." VIEW OF FLATS VARIOUS OF ENGEL TALKING TO YOUNG PEOPLE VARIOUS OF DYLAN GESWIND, 17-YEAR-OLD WHO HAS BEEN TRYING OFF AND ON TO LEAVE THE GANG LIFE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DYLAN GESWIND SAYING: "I didn't go to school, I didn't finish my school, I was in the wrong things, I did everything wrong, smoke drugs and stuff, rob people, do all the bad stuff... it wasn't good for me." DYLAN WALKING AND TALKING WITH ENGEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) MERLE GESWIND, DYLAN'S MOTHER SAYING: "CeaseFire is the first organization from what I have known now that has been reaching out to our children, which means a lot to us and you can see the progress in our children's lives." CEASEFIRE INTERRUPTERS HUGGING MERLE MERLE AND DYLAN TALKING WITH ENGEL ON STAIRS
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8BVW81A4MV391URDKJYMDIO7W
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Behind the facade of Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain and tourist attractions, violent street gangs stalk the Cape Flats - a low lying area of the city considered one of the most dangerous places in South Africa.
    Here, drugs fuel a way of life where generations share addiction - from grandparents to babies. For some, the drugs are an escape and for others they are the fuel that runs the gang culture.
    The "Flats" as they are known locally came up in the 1950's as a settlement designated by the apartheid government in a forced removal policy to get non-whites or 'coloureds' out of the inner city.
    Socially and economically marginalized, the area became a breeding ground for criminal activity.
    South African Police who have been criticized for being unable to address crime here, estimate that there are 100,000 gang members competing for turf and drug money in the Western Cape alone.
    A project called CeaseFire in the Hanover Park area is trying a different approach to stop to the gang-based violence that claims hundreds of lives every year.
    Based on an initiative first implemented in the US, CeaseFire focuses on street-level outreach by urging gang members not necessarily to leave the streets, but to stop gun violence and find alternatives to violence between gangs.
    The city-funded project trains what they call "violence interrupters" who are members of the community and understand the gang culture, to reach out and mediate in conflicts.
    Nealon Pertersen had been a gangster for over 30 years before he joined CeaseFire to become a violence interrupter.
    "I was 17 years old when I was involved with my first murder. I threw a drain cover on a guy's head about seven or eight times... made sure he was dead," said Petersen.
    "1991 I got an 18-year jail sentence for shooting nine people and I was about 11 months into my jail sentence and my appeal came through and my sentence changed to two years imprisonment, then I came out in 1993 on the 11th of the 11th month and I decided God had given me another chance."
    Petersen uses his experiences and street credibility to gain trust so he can try to change behaviour targeting not only the youth but the gang members at the top too.
    "CeaseFire had a hell of an impact on my life and I am still busy working with the guys, changing their norms, changing their minds. Whatever I can do for them, I do for them because the passion... I mean I have got a passion to work with the people," he said.
    When the model was first launched in 2000 in Chicago's most violent community, as here in Hanover Park, shootings of over 50 per month went down by over half in its first year according to local statistics.
    Cape Town's head of CeaseFire, Craven Engel says everyone is at risk from gang violence, even those who do not participate. Today he shares information with his 6-year-old grand daughter collected through a triangulation system that records gunfire audio in order to locate hotspots. He advises her to be vigilant.
    Children are often the victims of gang crossfire, but they are also easily influenced by gang culture and are easy targets for recruitment.
    "Unfortunately gangsterism affects children very negatively. But at this point in time, children unfortunately look up to some of the high-risk individuals, they become mentors in their environment and that is the only thing that sort of stands out for them," said Engel.
    "We use the interrupters to educate them and say - this is the beginning of gangsterism, but this will be the end of gangsterism so they are clearly educated about it but its got a negative effect on them you know, and it traumatises kids, it traumatises the seniors, it traumatises families and it disrupts the whole community," he added.
    Teenagers are some of the most challenging gang members to influence and are often the shooters because if caught by the police are unlikely to get jail sentences.
    Seventeen-year-old Dylan Geswind says he has been trying on and off to leave the gangs, especially now that he has a second child on the way.
    "I didn't go to school, I didn't finish my school, I was in the wrong things, I did everything wrong, smoke drugs and stuff, rob people, do all the bad stuff... it wasn't good for me," he said.
    CeaseFire has been a major influence in a society where there are few options for young people residents of Hanover Park say.
    "CeaseFire is the first organization from what I have known now that has been reaching out to our children, which means a lot to us and you can see the progress in our children's lives," said Merle, Dylan's mother.
    Apart from curbing the violence Engel says CeaseFire is trying to teach the youth that they can have a future outside the gangster lifestyle.
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