Athlone CPF Urges Communities To Take Control Amid Rising Gang Violence In Western Cape

The Athlone Community Policing Forum (CPF) has called on residents to step forward and reclaim neighbourhoods gripped by gang violence.

Chairperson Vernon Piedt made the remarks on Wednesday, a day after a nine-month-old baby was shot dead in Bridgetown.

The infant girl lost her life on Tuesday night in a shooting at a drug den in Sunbird Court. Her mother and another woman were also shot during the incident.

Athlone CPF Questions SANDF Deployment to Western Cape Gang Hotspots

Piedt said the planned deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to gang-affected areas in the Western Cape would not deliver the desired results.

“They don’t know how to work in the community. They are trained for combat. They don’t understand the community,” he said.

According to Piedt, sending soldiers into local neighbourhoods would not address the root causes of gang violence. He believes that lasting change must come from within the communities themselves.

Call for Community Action to Reclaim Gang-Ravaged Areas

Piedt urged residents to take decisive steps to reclaim areas plagued by criminal activity.

“We as the community should take responsibility. We as civilians should take full control of these areas… Because the government, national or provincial, has failed us,” he said.

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He added that rebuilding trust between residents and law enforcement is essential in efforts to curb gang violence. Without community confidence in policing structures, tackling crime will remain an uphill battle.

The shooting in Bridgetown has once again highlighted the devastating toll of gang activity in parts of the Western Cape, prompting renewed calls for urgent and community-driven solutions.