Cape Town’s persistent gang violence has been highlighted on the international stage following comments made by South African billionaire Johann Rupert. This was during a meeting at the Oval Office in Washington on Wednesday.
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Rupert, while at the high-profile session with US President Donald Trump, challenged the notion that white South Africans are the sole targets of violent crime in South Africa. Instead, he highlighted that there is a broader issue of crimes in the country, especially in marginalised communities like the Cape Flats.
“The biggest murder rate is in the Cape Flats. Gangs. We’ve got gang warfare… We need your help, sir, and we need Elon’s technology,” said Rupert.
His remarks were supported by crime analyst Eldred De Klerk, who also dismissed the notion of a “white genocide”. De Klerk emphasised that communities such as the Cape Flats, Westbury, and Mamelodi are continuously faced with violent crimes
“The reality is more in line with what [Johann] Rupert said than the persistent narrative that there’s a genocide against white farmers. Violence perpetrated by organised entities like criminal gangs is probably much more… that people in these areas feel that they’re under siege and that they live their lives in fear.”
Abie Isaacs, Chairperson of the Cape Flats Safety Forum, welcomed the attention the issue received at such a prominent level.
“We welcome that the issue around gang violence, specifically what we’ve called urban terror, has been raised at the [Oval Office] by corporate South Africa in the form of Mr. Rupert,” he said.
Isaacs now hopes that this focus will bolster calls for military intervention and stronger government support to stabilise the Cape Flats.
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