CAPE TOWN - Families in the Cape Flats fear for the safety of their children.
This comes as gang violence continues to cripple the Cape Flats. Frustrated residents have accused law enforcement of failing to protect them.
For one woman, the violence hit hard when her four-year-old granddaughter begged her to leave the area because of fear.
“Three weeks ago, my four-year-old granddaughter told me, ' Ma, I don’t want to stay here because I do not want to die here.' She is only just four years old,” she said.
For the woman, fear and trauma have become a part of her daily life, with children forced to grow up in gang-infested areas filled with violence.
“Our children have become prisoners in their own home,” the resident said.
Soldiers deployed under Operation Prosper have been tasked to assist police in gang violence hotspots, but the community said they do not see results.
On Wednesday, Deputy President Paul Mashatile and other government officials visited the Cape Flats to assess progress.
READ | Cape Flats residents frown at Mashatile's visit
However, this visit was met with a backlash.
Abie Isaac from the Cape Flats Safety Forum viewed the visit as a public stunt, saying Mashatile should have made time to engage the community.
The same sentiments were echoed by Michael Jacobs, from the Lentegeur Community Policing Forum, who was disappointed after they were kicked out of a meeting with Mashatile and the SAPS.
“We were told we are not allowed; it’s a high-level meeting. So our concerns about gang violence are not high-level to the Deputy President. I can say bluntly that the visit by the deputy was nothing but a state’s political theatre.
“He did not come to address the issue of crime. They went on a walkabout, but what for when you can not address the community leaders,” Jacobs said.