LEBOGANG SEALE
WORRIED parents of Daliwonga Secondary School pupils have decided to escort their children to school after four pupils were stabbed on Tuesday in what is said to have been a gang-related attack.
Armed with knobkierries and sjamboks, about 50 parents escorted their children to school in Dube yesterday. They were later joined by local community policing forum (CPF) patrollers and the police. This is because they fear more attacks by a gang from Meadowlands and Dobsonville.
Rival gangs from Mofolo North, Meadowlands and Dobsonville have for several months been fighting over the control of Dorothy Nyembe Park. The park borders the three areas. The warring gangs are Mavarara from Meadowlands Zone 10, Triple Zero from Mofolo North and, to a lesser extent, London Boys from parts of Orlando West. Several rival gangs from Dobsonville are said to be siding with Mavarara or Triple Zero.
The conflict escalated recently with the death of two Mavarara members. On Tuesday, four Daliwonga pupils, most of whom come from Mofolo North, had to be hospitalised for serious stab wounds in what appeared to be a revenge attack by the Mavarara. They were attacked because they are from Triple Zero territory.
Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dla-mini said two suspects had been arrested and remanded in custody in connection with last week’s murder. He said, however, that the police were not investigating cases of gang-related violence.
“It’s clashes among youngsters and not gang violence,” he said.
Shortly before 8am yesterday, six police vehicles from the Gauteng Flying Squad arrived at the school. Joined by the CPF members, they scoured bushes between a bridge and the railway line searching for gang members.
“Our children are supposed to be writing or preparing for exams. How will they do this when they are worried about their safety?” asked one mother.
She, like others, blamed gang warfare on Cutting Edge, an SABC documentary programme which has aired incidents of gangsterism among rival schools.
CPF leaders raised fears about the problem spiralling out of control. They asked not to be named.
“It’s very serious. But we are more worried about Dobsonville because there are three rival gangs there,” said one.
Another, from Meadowlands Zone 10, said: “Unless the police take this seriously, it could break into open warfare.”
Both leaders are planning joint community meetings for residents.