Déjà vu
How will troops in among civilians on the Cape Flats help?
How will the army rid the Cape Flats of its gangsters when two decades of policing have failed?
The 1980s were a very bad time. In a last, desperate attempt to crush the struggle, the government decided to make war on its own people. Buffels, crewed by white boys armed with assault rifles, rolled into the townships. And hell followed.Western Cape premier Alan Winde must be a desperate man. The gang violence on the Cape Flats shows no sign of abating. So mothers took their tears to parliament and pleaded for the government to do something, anything.The president responded by ordering the army onto the Cape Flats in the vain hope that it can succeed where two decades of policing have failed.Perhaps the move will bring a measure of calm while the gangsters take stock. Then they will adapt to a dramatic change in circumstances, and the gunfire and killings will continue.In fact, it is not fair to say the police have failed. The cops are locking up gangsters as fast as they can.But their work is undone by the constant stream of bad guys flowing back onto the streets on parole, or i...
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