Peace on the Cape Flats? Anything is possible says gangster-turned-pastor

It's known world-over as one of the most dangerous places in South Africa.

But peace is possible on the gang-ridden, drug-plagued Cape Flats says a man who knows the best and the worst of the area all too well.

Ivan Waldeck is a former gangster turned pastor who now engages with senior gang leaders, in a bid to bring peace to the Cape Flats. 

He says to understand the troubles on the Flats, one must first look to history for context.

"If we go back into the history, how we were orchestrated by the previous regime, putting us in spaces where there's no recreation for our children and so on...there are some fundementals that we can say, yes, this is because of apartheid."

- Pastor Ivan Waldeck

Waldeck says there are many reasons why young men on the Flats fall prey to gangs and gang life, including social ills and limited opportunities.

"Sometimes it's peer pressure, sometimes social challenges in the home, a father who's present but also absent, a mother drinking...today there's no work for the matrics."

- Pastor Ivan Waldeck

Waldeck says with the right opportunities, the sky is the limit for many of these young men.

He calls them 'businessmen with the wrong product', adding that mentorship is crucial.

But Waldeck also admits that peace comes at a price. In 2019, he was shot 17 times while leaving a peace mediation at a church in Belville.

"It was a successful mediation, just for the other group to come and say, no we will come after Mr Waldeck, knowing that for years I'm on no one side."

- Pastor Ivan Waldeck

Despite his brush with death Waldeck says he remains committed to working towards peace.