gangster’s paradise

Tshepo Mmusi
Jouberton Location
Matlosana local municipality
North West province
02 November 2021

In previous alerts sent regarding gangsterism it was reported how different gangs are fighting for any means to have income. These gangs have been fighting for territory in order to commit crime without any disturbances. We saw how these gangs were using their political connections to obtain genders in return for their services to fight political battles and at the same time protecting these politicians and their properties. Gangs that we reported about are Bokoharam, Alqaaida, and Vietnam.

On the 28th of October 2021, the department of human settlement visited the community of Extension 25 which is an informal settlement since 2018. Members of that community took it to the streets in the last two weeks to protest against the Matlosana municipality for not allocating residential stands for them and to be given housing subsidies by the Department of human settlement. The new mayor Rosey Thabanchu listened to their demands and then spoke to the department and as a result the department sent its officials to one and register residents to their database and to allocate them sites which they will be built RDP houses.

To their arrival on the area they were stopped by a gang of Alqaaida group for them not to conduct their business of the day. The group demanded the officials to give them money because they were thinking that the officials were a private company which came to develop the area. This is a practice in our community that when a tender is awarded to a company, then a group of locals will demand 30% community beneficiation andnthis should be done in a form of the company hiring its labour locally, procuring services locally and sub contracting local businesses. But these gangs are doing it by demanding money from these companies.
The whole process was halted in the name of 30% community beneficiation, and in reality money thatis sourced does not benefit members of the community but individual thugs are the beneficiaries. Development is very key in our areas and it comes with employing and empowering our communities and if we have individual groupings who take advantage and instill intimidation and fear amongst members of our communities, then we will have no one to blame but ourselves for our underdevelopment and misfortunes