Teaching and learning at several schools in the northern areas of Gqeberha are becoming difficult due to increasing gang-related violence and conflict among school learners. Residents in these gang-ridden areas say they live in constant fear. The latest incident, just more than a week ago, resulted in five people gunned down inside a house.
Bethelsdorp and Gelvandale have become hotspot areas for gang activity. The vicious circle of gang violence is becoming more common among school learners.
“So, the point I’m trying to make there is that until this thing is going to spill over into our schools where there is going to be mass serial killings then it might be too late. We, as a community, are really calling on General Commissioner Masemola to come down with a team of experts and analysts even our tertiary institution must chip in for the behavioural side of why these things are happening the way it is happening,” says Chris Martin, community activist.
On average, 30 people are murdered in the northern areas of Gqeberha per week.
“We are now adopting a holistic approach towards the scourge of crime. We need to have a deterrent so that people can feel that if they do the wrong thing they will be caught and the one thing we have a problem with is witnesses. If people are not coming forward, it makes it very difficult but we are on a mission to have cameras in those hotspots,” says Gary Van Niekerk, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayor.
Last month, Police Minister Bheki Cele launched Operation Shanela in the metro.
“I instructed the police that the schools are visited and we have deployed vehicles and boots on the ground to be visible in this community. So on a daily basis, the police do patrol and go to schools every morning to sign and check if everything is okay. But police cannot do this on their own. We need the community on board to assist us in terms of coming forward and to report these suspects so that we can quickly arrest them,” says Major General Vuyisile Ncata, SAPS NMB District Commissioner.
The rising violence and killings in the Nelson Mandela Bay district also place it in the top 30 high-crime-rate provincial policing areas.
Video: School gangs on the rise in the northern areas of Gqeberha
