The white-collar aspect of gang violence: 'We need to disrupt those channelling the guns, funding these crimes' - Caryn Dolley

702's John Perlman chats to journalist and author Caryn Dolley.

Listen below:

Deadly gangsterism has been plaguing Cape Town and surrounds for decades and yet the Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia acknowledged that intelligence plans to tackle Cape gang violence "are still not fully in place."

So writes journalist Caryn Dolley in her recent Daily Maverick article.

"This has been happening for decades. People have been murdered in shootings in gang violence for decades – we know the Western Cape and Cape Town has a gang problem; this has been the case since pre-democracy. This is a little shocking that there's no full intelligence plan in place."

- Caryn Dolley, Journalist 

"It is unfair to say that police aren't doing anything... we've seen firearms being removed, seized, confiscated... we've seen sort of peace talks... beneath all of that there are fundamental issues that need to be dealt with the same vigour as killings should be tackled." 

- Caryn Dolley, Journalist 

While communities reel from daily violence, Dolley says the real power behind the gangs often remains untouched – those fuelling the crisis from behind the scenes. 

In her investigations of gang networks, she exposes how white-collar crime, corruption, and organised business interests are quietly enabling chaos in communities. 

She explains that these so-called “gangsters” operate with influence and anonymity... laundering money, manipulating tenders, and arming gangs with impunity. 

Dolley warns that without disrupting the top tiers of these networks, violence on the ground will continue. 

"There's also the flipside to this, the white-collar aspect... there needs to be a holistic approach where you tackle the causes – and not just foot soldiers and people running around with guns, but the people channelling the guns to those individuals, the people who are funding these crimes which inevitably trickle down and cause immense trauma."

- Caryn Dolley, Journalist 

RELATED: Cape gang violence hits courts: ‘A direct threat to constitutional democracy’ – Andries Nel, Justice Dept

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