SA's murder capital: Inanda residents terrorised by 'West Gang' youngsters

JOHANNESBURG - Fearless, relentless, and brutally violent, they are said to be behind a spate of robberies and more than 50 murders in Inanda, north of Durban - just this year alone - and are responsible for the death of a cop, neighbourhood watch patrollers, and a community policing forum member - anyone who dares stand in their way.

Heavily armed, groomed by drug lords and traditional healers who bestow “powers of invincibility” through muti and shunned upon rituals, the “West Gang” have a hold of fear over residents of Inanda.

Inanda has been deemed the murder and rape capital of the country for several years, only on occasion losing its dehumanising throne to Nyanga in the Western Cape, which has since seen a drastic decrease in murders.

In the period between April and June this year, there were 81 people killed in Inanda, the most in any policing precinct in the country.

In comparison to other provinces, Delft in the Western Cape, claimed third spot with 61 murders during the same period, while in Gauteng, Hillbrow in Johannesburg claimed seventh spot, where 52 people were killed in those three months.

A woman and resident of Bhambayi, who spoke to Eyewitness News on condition of anonymity, relayed stories of how the community is cloaked in a blanket of fear as the young boys of the West Gang hold residents at ransom through a string of robberies, attacks, and murders.

“Earlier in October, some boys came here. The first house they entered was a small tuck shop that sold food. The owner of the shop was home with his wife. They demanded money. They pointed a gun at him and beat him up. He gave them all the money he had.

“They shot this man in his leg, in front of his wife. This traumatised her so much. They demanded his bank card and pin. She was forced to give them the details they wanted, for her husband's safety.”

She said the perpetrators were in their mid-teens, and that after this incident, the victim’s wife was never the same.

“She is traumatised; she went crazy. She says it is like a movie constantly replaying in her mind, every day. So, I took her to live with me, while her husband remained in their home. Another thing, after that incident, the police never came. Which was wrong. She is so traumatised. Even at my house, she does not sleep, she cannot sleep. My house is close to the road, so even when she hears a car drive past, she gets scared.”

A week after Eyewitness News began investigating the gang, police conducted a number of operations to crack down on the gang’s reign of terror.

Last week, police pounced on a hideout where some of the gang members were allegedly based in the Bester area of Inanda.

A joint operation between SAPS, the Hawks, the National Intervention Unit (NIU), and Crime Intelligence saw five West Gang members killed on the evening of 30 October, in a shooting that lasted hours.

A member of the NIU was injured during the incident as gang members allegedly fired 18 shots at police.

Police recovered four unlicenced firearms, 31 live rounds of ammunition, and pieces of crack cocaine with a total value of R90,000.

Just days earlier, police shot and killed a traditional healer in Inanda understood to have been assisting members of the West Gang.

Three suspects, aged between 19 and 28, were arrested.

The crackdown followed last month’s callous murder of Warrant Officer Sthembiso Mazibuko of the NIU, who was killed in a shootout with alleged members of the West Gang, at a house in Ntuzuma C Section.

His murder followed that of community policing forum (CPF) chair of Bhambayi - an area within Inanda which has been targeted by the West Gang - Mnakiseni Mngadi, who was shot multiple times at his home on 11 October.

When Eyewitness News visited the area two weeks ago, the Hawks and the NIU, acting on information, pounced on a one-bedroom shack in Inanda, killing a suspect believed to have been involved in the shooting with Mazibuko and his team.

A firearm with live rounds of ammunition was found in his possession.

Public relations officer of Inanda CPF Mbongeni Phewa said while police were trying their utmost to crack down on the “boys committing these terrible crimes,” they are faced with an impossible task.

“The police are trying their level best, but if I can tell you the ratio, 1,003 households equals one police officer - that is like a drop in the ocean. We don’t have enough policemen.”

Phewa said many of the young men in the community were being exploited by drug lords to push their product and eliminate anyone who dares oppose them.

He painted a bleak reality the youth in the area are faced with.

“We have 133 taverns in Inanda - that’s not even talking about the shebeens. We have 78 schools, our main primary, and secondary schools. But we have only four sports fields in Inanda.”

CORRUPT COPS CONQUER

According to a highly placed source who is well versed on the criminal elements plaguing the region, many of the West Gang’s members are said to be operating out of Bester, an area which stretches between Inanda and Ntuzuma, a neighbouring township.

“The inception of these boys was via a certain police officer. He was then involved in a shootout with members of the political task team, and was shot dead. But he was not the only one. There are still other members within a couple of police stations in the north - mainly Inanda and Ntuzuma, where we have a situation where there are members who own drug dens. This has become difficult now for good members to work, because whatever they do, they cannot touch those drug dens. If they do, they cannot go to sleep at home, because these boys will come take you out - it’s that simple.”

Cops are not only allegedly involved in drug peddling, but many are said to be users who often skip work for months due to their habits.

“We have a situation now where there are more than a handful of members who haven’t reported for work for more than 10 months, not because they are ill or anything like that - it’s just because they don’t want to go to work. They go absent without leave for months on months, and when their salaries get cut off, they resurface again. It’s quite a slippery slope.”

Speaking to Eyewitness News, KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said in an area the size of Inanda, there should be at least six to seven police stations - and yet there is only one police station and two satellite police stations.

Mkhwanazi said Inanda was plagued by societal issues, which would require attention from various spheres of government and civil society.

“Until everyone understands the role that they must play, only then will we be able to solve crime in Inanda. Dealing with unemployment, housing, spatial development, lighting, entertainment for the youngsters, and so forth. Once we address all these things, then you might start seeing everything that’s supposed to help society is there, and then police can deal with criminality as it manifests itself.”

Mkhwanazi said his team had been taking action against members found on the wrong side of the law.

“In the province to date, we have more than 30 members that have been dismissed from the service. [A number] of them are undergoing disciplinary matters as a result of misbehaviour and criminality to some extent, where they get involved. So, Inanda and Ntuzuma are not immune; we might expect some elements of criminality there.”

But Mkhwanazi is said to be a lone ranger, trying to make the difference with very little support from his subordinates.

“General Mkhwanazi has arrested and charged a lot of members on his own. But then you ask yourself - is he the only general in KZN? No, he’s not. He’s got a whole lot of major-generals underneath him - you’ve never heard of any of them charging anyone, yet they live in Durban, but there’s only one person working, the man at the top - but the rest underneath him, we don’t know,” said a source.