Cape Flats communities take on gangs as police confidence dwindles: 'People are fed up!'

Cape Talk's Clarence Ford chats to Graham Lindhorst from the Bishop Lavis CPF.  

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below:

"Every day people are dying, every day people are being robbed, every day people's houses are broken into, every day there's smash and grabs...people are becoming fed up and saying we cannot leave things as is - something must give..."

 - Graham Lindhorst, Bishop Lavis CPF

Tensions are rising in Cape Flats communities as residents grow increasingly frustrated with gang violence and what they see as police inaction. 

Lindhorst says communities are "fed up" and are beginning to confront gangsters directly in the absence of effective policing. 

"They [police] react...they are like fire brigades...they do things after the fact. It's not going to solve our problems because that's not what our communities need. They need to be proactive, they need to prevent crime, they need to be there before things happen, they need to know when things will happen and make sure it doesn't happen, and that's not happening."

- Graham Lindhorst, Bishop Lavis CPF

ALSO READ: Time to declare a state of emergency on the Cape Flats? 

Recent videos have shown gangs boldly standing their ground against civilian patrols, an alarming sign of their growing confidence and power in the area.

"They [gangsters] think that they are in charge of our streets, they are in charge of our communities, they are in charge of even the government departments. So, they can do as they want, they don't care... I cannot understand why SAPS can't deal with them...because they are known..."

- Graham Lindhorst, Bishop Lavis CPF

While Lindhorst praised the police for controlling a recent volatile standoff, he criticised their lack of proactive policing. 

He warns that if police continue to fail communities, it could potentially reignite violent clashes between residents and gangsters - reminiscent of the late 1990s.

"Communities feel that SAPS has let them down, SAPS just don’t care, SAPS don’t respond in time, SAPS is just nowhere..."

- Graham Lindhorst, Bishop Lavis CPF

"Communities are going to start to take things into their own hands."

- Graham Lindhorst, Bishop Lavis CPF

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.