Hundreds of heartbroken Cape Flats moms who have lost children to gang violence took to the city’s streets on Thursday to demand answers from President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The march to Parliament, organised by Moms Move for Justice (MMJ), saw women come out to share their tragic and traumatising stories of cold cases, botched police investigations and the “useless” deployment of the army.
Women come out to share their tragic and traumatising stories. Picture: Monique Duval
Founder, Avril Andrews, from Hanover Park launched a scathing attack on Ramaphosa for sending the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to the Cape Flats, saying there seems to be no real plan to curb crime.
“My hart is so vol maar die boodskap is vir die President. The women on the Cape Flats are waiting for you to sit down with us to understand what is going on,” she said.
“Yes, we want to thank you for giving permission for the army to come here, but somehow this army must have a plan. There are funds being pumped into that.”
Avril Andrews from Hanover Park wants the president to act. Picture: Monique Duval
The deployment of the 1320 soldiers has come at a cost of more than R23 million.
“Some of that funds could have gone to our women that are unemployed that cover the streets of Hanover Park, Manenberg,” said Avril.
“Those are the women who get up every morning en daar is nie brood in die kassie nie, maar hulle loop (saam met die) kinders skool toe.”
Among the crowd was widow Veronica Paulse, who wants justice for her husband Lesley, 67, who was killed by gangsters in September last year.
She tells the Daily Voice that nearly a year after the beloved oupa, known as Boeta Les, was gunned down in broad daylight, Philippi police have yet to make an arrest.
“It is very hard for me because all I want is justice for my husband, he didn’t deserve to die like that,” she said.
“It is almost a year now and no arrests have been made and there is no progress with the case. I mean, he was killed while walking to fetch my tablets from the day hospital.”
Motherss of gang victims supporting each other. Picture: Monique Duval
In their list of demands, the mothers called on police to start producing duplicates of all dockets to ensure cases don’t get lost in the system, monthly meetings with the community, proper communication from police, victim empowerment rooms for trauma counselling at all cop shops, and the appointment of a child commissioner in the Western Cape.
Ramaphosa’s representative signed the memorandum and informed the crowd the Presidency would provide a response “in the next four to six weeks”.