Gangster-turned-pastor who survived attempted hit, pens memoir

SK

Sara-Jayne Makwala King

22 April 2025 | 13:04

Ivan Waldeck now engages with senior gang leaders, in a bid to bring peace to the Cape Flats.

CapeTalk's Clarence Ford is joined by Ivan Waldeck, a former-gangster-turned-pastor. 

It is nearly 15 years since Ivan Waldeck felt a shower of bullets tearing through his arm and torso.

He was sitting in his car in Belville South having just given his Sunday morning sermon at the Holy Nation of God Church.

Remarkably, Waldeck was able to drive himself and his wife, who had also been shot, to Melomed Hospital in Belville where he collapsed on arrival.

That's just one of the extraordinary stories the former-gangster-turned-pastor relives in his soon-to-be released memoir `The Gates of Hell'.

Waldeck explains that the book's title relates to his former life as a gang member:

"There are rules, there are a code of conduct... that we live by in the gang world - there is one law that says, when you sign up and you accept The Number, there is no gates, there is no turning back."
- Ivan Waldeck, Former-gangster-turned-pastor

But through his own experiences, having escaped the gang life, Waldeck says there is life on the other side of the 'gates':

"There is hope after hell."
- Ivan Waldeck, Former-gangster-turned-pastor
"Broken crayons can still colour."
- Ivan Waldeck, Former-gangster-turned-pastor

Today, Waldeck is a motivational speaker who speaks on the dangers of gangsterism and drug addiction.

In his first published book he speaks about his involvement and experiences in prison and in the Cape Town underworld.
He's confident it will get into the hands of those who need it the most:
"There are prisoners who are reading."
- Ivan Waldeck, Former-gangster-turned-pastor

But Waldeck admits, he doesn't sugarcoat reality in the book:

"It is giving the straight version, it is true facts of hardcore prison life. It's facts of real bullets, it's facts of the real life out in gangsterism."
- Ivan Waldeck, Former-gangster-turned-pastor
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