1 month ago
54
Residents in Philippi are staying indoors and businesses are closed after warnings of a gang turf war in the area. (Sandiso Phaliso/GroundUp)
- On Saturday, Cape Town gangsters apparently sent letters to community leaders warning that pupils should stay at home this week.
- The gangsters, from the Marcus Garvey informal settlement in Philippi, also instructed businesses to pay protection fees to them and not another gang from neighbouring Lower Crossroads.
- They threatened to kill "every Somalian" if their demand was not heeded.
A letter apparently circulated by gangs to community leaders in Philippi East has caused immense fear in the Cape Town suburb.
Pupils have stayed away from schools and businesses are temporarily closed, GroundUp reported.
Community leader Xolile Matshaya from the Marcus Garvey informal settlement in Philippi says a gangster handed him a letter with the following text:
Dear Community
There are new tax collectors from Marcus Garvey. Do not give these Lower Crossroads boys money ever again, or else we will kill every Somalian.
Thank you.
Be informed [that] collection date is on the 5th every month.
Yours Faithfully,
Marcus Garvey
Somali nationals in Philippi are associated with running spaza shops.
GroundUp was unable to verify the origins of the letter, but its existence has caused panic.
GroundUp also attempted to speak to Somali spaza shop owners, but they were reluctant to comment.
Many shops along Stock Road, which divides Marcus Garvey and Lower Crossroads, were also closed.
The owner of a salon on Stock Road said he would keep his business closed until it was safe to reopen.
He said:
We are caught in the middle because this month these guys come and take the money and the next month it is others who come. It is just not safe anymore.
READ | Construction mafia: 5 alleged Boko Haram gang members killed in Tshwane project extortion attempt
Matshaya said gangs routinely collect "protection fees" from businesses in the area on the first Monday of each month, as well as from private households that rent out rooms and backyard shacks.
He said the Marcus Garvey gang was now refusing to allow the syndicate from Lower Crossroads to collect money from businesses in Marcus Garvey.
The extortion letter making the rounds in Philippi. (GroundUp)
Both gangs claim Marcus Garvey as their territory.
Various gangs extort money from businesses in a number of Cape townships. Extortion in Philippi and Nyanga is particularly common.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said the South African Police Service (SAPS) was aware of a threat of possible violence in the area, and the origin and circumstances surrounding these threats were now part of a police investigation.
Traut said additional operational forces had been deployed in Philippi East to ensure the safety of the community, and curb gang-related violence.
He said extortion was among the top crime priorities in the province, adding:
Every endeavour is made to combat and root out the phenomenon.
He said an extortion task team had been established and its investigations had successfully brought cases to court.
While there has been police presence in Philippi, teachers said their safety - as well as that of pupils - was under threat.
At Phakama High School, only 20 of the school's more than 1 300 pupils arrived for class on Monday, according to Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.
The highest attendance was at Vukani Primary School, where about 430 of 1 200 pupils arrived.
A teacher at Phakama High School said on Tuesday that pupils continued to stay at home, with even fewer arriving in the morning.
Another teacher said it was decided over the weekend that pupils should stay at home until the situation has stabilised.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, as she hadn't obtained authority to speak to the press, the teacher said the few pupils who arrived on Monday were sent home.
They added:
For safety reasons, parents choose not to send their children to school, as they were advised by community leaders.
"Every day, teachers are expected to report at the schools but we can't blame parents for keeping children indoors."
One parent, Sesethu Njokwana, said she kept her two children at home and would only send them to school when it is safe to do so.
Njokwana said the gangs were creating an unsafe environment for children to grow up in, adding that this would disadvantage them in life.
Hammond said the WCED "has engaged with the local SAPS and has requested that there be police patrolling around the schools at dismissal times".
"The increase and threats of violence within the community is concerning and will continue to engage with law enforcement," said Hammond.
"We will not have our learners' basic rights inhibited. Every school day is important to us. So yes, disruptions like this within a school community is a loss of teaching and learning time."
She said the threat to safety also took a physical and mental toll on pupils and teachers, and could be traumatic.
