Kids conned into joining gangs
2003-04-02 23:52
Cape Town - Gangs in the Western Cape manipulate minors and are drawing in more and more children to do their dirty work for them.
They lead the children to believe that nothing will happen to them when they commit crimes.
This is the opinion of experts after the recent increase in the number of children killed in gang-ridden communities.
This week, two minors, who either belonged to gangs or were killed by young gang members, were shot dead in Mitchell's Plain.
On Sunday evening, Fabian Jordaan, 16, from Eastridge, was shot and killed, allegedly by young members of the Fancy Boys gang. On Tuesday, alleged members of the Americans gang shot Byron Mackenzie, 16, in broad daylight in Tafelsig. He was apparently a member of the Wonderboys gang.
In another gang shooting in Paarl East on Wednesday morning, three gang members fired shots from a house in Impala Avenue. Nobody was killed, but one person was injured. Captain William Reid, police spokesperson, said the attackers could have been minors.
Captain Adrian Saulse of the Western Cape gang unit, said gangs recruit minors under the pretext that nothing would happen to them if they commit crimes.
"When a minor is arrested, a jail term is normally the last option. Minors are rather released into their parents' custody or placed under correctional supervision.
"As soon as the children are out under these conditions, gang leaders lead them to believe that their 'contacts' arranged their release and that they are untouchable. Most minors only realise that this is a lie when they are sentenced to long jail terms as adults and gang leaders break all contact with them," he said.
Mike Michaels of the Harvest Time Prisoner and Gang Gospel Ministries and one of the founder members of community policing in the country, said gangs use children because they normally have no prior convictions and are easily released on bail.
"These children are filled with empty promises and they are promised the glamorous lifestyles of gang leaders in exchange for deeds that turn them into monsters. Many of them are threatened into joining gangs or to suffer the consequences," Michaels said.