The upset father lay on the narrow single bed, pointing at two small bullet holes in the wall of his house.
This is a moment when his family's life will be broken forever.
Devon Africa's four-year-old son, Davin, was shot dead in February and caught in a firefight between criminals.
He was a victim of the gang war that plagued Cape Flats, the townships around Cape Town – a legacy of segregation, when non-white populations were forcibly moved from the center of wealthy cities to under-resourced suburbs.
“This is the bullet hole here,” he said. “This is where he sleeps.”
The family has endured indescribable horror.
Davin's sister Kelly Amber was killed two years ago when rivals shot each other. She is 12 years old.
Now Devon and his wife Undean have only their youngest daughter left.
“She asked me, 'Where is my brother?'” Undean said. “So I told her that he was with Jesus in my heart and in my heart.”
Thirty years after the end of apartheid [BBC]
The murders took place in an area known as Westbank, but despite the assurance of additional patrols by police, many other families throughout the wider Cape Town area had to endure similar nightmares.
These numbers tell a frightening story. According to police, the Western Cape (Cape) has always seen the vast majority of gang-related murders in South Africa.
Formally, this is a government policing priority. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who established a special division in 2018 to combat gang violence, also deployed the army briefly into the second year, but the problems remained and the murders continued.
“There is an entire history and generations born in these gangs,” said Gareth Newham, head of the Justice and Violence Prevention Program at the Johannesburg Security Institute.
“[They] Areas that are largely overlooked or underdeveloped by the states thrived. Gangs provide a form of social structure that actually serves communities that the state does not have. They provide food for the house. The money for electricity. Money used for transportation or funeral. These gangs even pay tuition fees. ”
They are embedded in the community, “that's why it's hard for police to solve them…it means they can use non-hazardous members' homes to store drugs and store weapons.”
Pastor Craven Engel is ready to meet anyone at any time to promote peace [BBC]
But someone tried to solve this problem.
15 km (9 miles) from Wesbank is Hanover Park, where Rev. Craven Engel sticks to his cell phone almost all day, seeking peace every day.
His mission is to mediate gang conflicts to stop this violence and killings, driven by the profitable trade of drugs. He and his team are trying to follow a basic formula: detection, interruption and changing mindsets.
“Hanover Park really has no economy to speak of,” said Rev. “Most of the economy comes from drug culture. It's the largest economy.”
Pastor Engel said the impact of apartheid on the region cannot be ignored, but the trauma that has passed down from generation to generation cannot be manifested as drug addiction and then family breakdown.
“substance [drug] Creating unemployment, this material causes robbery, it creates gang battles because of turf. Therefore, the material is located in the middle of many atrocities in the community.
This community of about 50,000 people has to endure shootings and stab wounds almost every day. And it is usually young people who are killing and being killed.
Newspaper cuts fixed to the wall of Reverend Engel's office remind people to kill a notorious gang leader in 2019 [BBC]
“This policing approach alone is unlikely to solve this problem because you may arrest people for gang members, guns and shootings and murders. They will go to jail, but later they are replaced by younger members. This creates a range of different problems. They are more likely to fight on territory and fight on territory and turf.”
“A child shoots seven or three times on his head? How does a wandering bullet hit a child?” asked Pastor Engel.
On his phone, he calls community leaders and gang protagonists, constantly coaxing to try to get rid of violence. When the BBC African eyes visited him, he was trying to make a ceasefire between the two warring gangs – and managed to reach one of the leaders who were sentenced to jail.
“If I want something to happen, it will still happen. Do you know the priest?” the gang boss shouted. “But I can tell you one thing. I'm a guy who loves to fight back if I get caught fire.”
threaten. Even from the cell.
But Pastor Engel is relentless. He was evident in the community, whether in the homes of parishioners or in the congregation that rang loudly on Sunday’s podium.
“I think it's very, very scary now, there are more kids involved in the gang because the gang is recruiting ages eight to 15,” he said.
He ran the plan that had received government funding, but it had already been done. To cut off the supply lines and protect innocent people, he will meet with victims and perpetrators anytime, anywhere.
He also sent recovered gang members to negotiate directly with the warring factions. Those who live on the brink of death know how important it is to promote peace.
Glenn Hans is such a person. He is meeting rival gangs who convince them to commemorate the ceasefire. He told a group of gang members: “I'm in this game too. As long as you decide you want to be a better person. That's all.”
One has a shocking response: “The more we kill, the more positions we catch, the more we have, the more we can build. So, for me, talking about peace – I can't make a decision because it's not my decision to ensure peace.”
The ceasefire that was finally agreed lasted for several days and was destroyed by two people being shot in a car.
But some people in the conflict have had enough.
Nando Johnston says he wants to find a way out [BBC]
Fernando – or Nando – Johnston is in a gang called “The Mixed” who wants to try to find a way out with the help of Rev. Engel.
The pastor described Mr. Johnston as young and “born from a gang” because his entire family was involved.
“In this game, there are only two options – either to go to jail or die,” Mr Johnston said.
“I really want to change directions, and I believe there is always a way. That's why I approached the pastor – ask him if there is a plan or a way to take me.”
He will participate in a six-to-12-week rehabilitation program conducted by pastors and is funded by charitable donations designed to remove people from drugs and go to work.
“The thing is that you can start building yourself again now,” Pastor Engel told him. “You will be able to find your own job and make money for yourself. Then, you won't have to be busy and clear here anymore.”
Mr. Johnston said: “I'm going to go, pastor.”
The closest people to him gathered together and wish him all the best. His mother, Angeline April, stopped the tears and desperately, this time, her son would choose to live. “Please make the most of this opportunity, Nando,” she said.
“Yes, mom, I always make the most of this.”
But this has never been an easy task.
Johnston's mother said: “Fernando's father was a gangster, but the father of my other child was a gentleman.”
“But, since he is a gangster, the kids are involved in the gangster, even though I have been warning them all the time.
So far, everything has been fine for Mr. Johnston. He was still there for two weeks since he started the program.
“Nando is stabilizing. He is working on a work plan. He is busy meeting his family, meeting his children. He made a visit yesterday. We relaxed, he is back, there is no drug in his system for clear testing,” Pastor Engel said.
“No one brings a magic wand to heal the cloaked wand”,” Source: Rev. Craven Engel, Source Description: Religious Leader: Religious Leader, Image: A pink man looking at the camera.
Hopefully it is a rare commodity here, but sometimes it does see a lot of trauma cracks in the streets.
Not all streets. In the middle of the battlefield, Devon Africa and Undean Koopman's houses had little hope.
On the edge of this beautiful South African city, a cycle of murder and revenge has struck the area in which it is overwhelming for many who are struggling to survive.
People who are trapped in the middle usually have to make impossible choices.
“Even if community members oppose gangs, it's not necessarily a professional for two reasons,” Mr Newham said.
“One of them is that they just don’t know the police will be called.
In this war, peacemakers reflected emotions on the frontline. Pastor Engel said: “No one will come from anywhere to help or save us. Not from overseas. Not from our local government. No one will bring a wand to heal the cloak,” Pastor Engel said.
“As individuals, we must be so determined to build resilience, create hope and grow for our people. Because politics has obviously disappointed us.”
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