Communities across Cape Town’s gang-ridden areas are today shutting down their suburbs.
Residents of Bonteheuvel, Kensington and Manenberg — suburbs on Cape Town’s Cape Flats — on Tuesday engaged in protests against gangsterism and gang-related violence.
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More than 808 of the recorded 973 gang-related murders in South Africa occurred in the Western Cape between April 2017 and March 2018.
Calling for intervention from law enforcement and police, #cptshutdown and #wcshutdown began trending on Twitter early Tuesday morning as residents took to the streets.
Protesters were met with tear gas and stun grenades.
This video of police firing tear gas into a crowd of protesters on the corner of Jakes Gerwel Drive and Bluegum Road was published by Twitter account @bosbeer2006 early Tuesday morning.
It has since been viewed over 1400 times.
Chaos! Vanguard drive CAPE town.stungrenades fired by police as protesters try to block the road. @Abramjee @TrafficSA @eNCA #Shutdown #CptShutdown pic.twitter.com/AA4LjZfVXm
— BOSBEER /CAPE TOWN (@BOSBEER2006) September 25, 2018
GroundUp’s Ashraf Hendricks posted this video to Twitter, showing the growing tension on Jakes Gerwel Drive.
Tentions are high in Bonteheuwel after police dispersed protesters blocking Jakes Gerwel with tear gas and stun grenades. #wcshutdown @GroundUp_News pic.twitter.com/lTx6FJzXZi
— Ashraf Hendricks (@AshrafRSA) September 25, 2018
While a more powerful clip of a Kensington man shouting at police, calling out their failings, was also published earlier today by The Cape Argus. It was captured by photographer Henk Kruger.
WATCH: Kensington residents tell police “you have failed us”
Video: @henkpix @AfriNewsAgency @IOL #WCShutdown pic.twitter.com/j5z6hLVZZt— Cape Argus (@TheCapeArgus) September 25, 2018
A number of protests have been cleared, the City of Cape Town’s dedicated alert account tweeted. However, key transport hubs remain closed.
Crime precautionary measures at Bellville Taxi Rank, Bellville Taxi Rank remains shut down, as well as all surrounding roads leading to the rank. Commuters dropped/loaded on surrounding roads.
— City of CT Alerts (@CityofCTAlerts) September 25, 2018
The City of Cape Town has yet to issue an official statement regarding the protests.
For more in depth coverage of the Cape Town shutdowns from the ground, the @TheCapeArgus and @AshrafHenricks are excellent follows on Twitter.
Feature image: Andy Walker/Memeburn
