Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of the Western Cape, Kelly Gillespie, says though government is taking steps at ending gangsterism, more should be done.
She says unless there is deep political commitment to changing the social conditions in gang-affiliated neighborhoods, no police intervention will undo the deeper conditions in which gangs have done extremely well.
She was speaking after police authorities tabled what they view as the success of the Anti-Gang Unit just months since it was introduced.
Police Minister Bheki Cele together with his counterparts gave feedback to the Portfolio Committee in Parliament on Tuesday. A total of 79 projects are currently running where 300 arrests have been made and firearms confiscated.
The unit is a result of a national approach which is a collaboration between officers, civil society and community members with an aim of putting an end to gangsterism and drugs.
Gillespie says the unit has had an impact on communities.
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