[WATCH] ‘Take us away from gangs’: Flats foster ma’s video goes viral, pleading to raise kids in safety
|Published
CRYING FOR HELP: Raeefah Benjamin, 55, from Manenberg.
A desperate plea by a foster mom from Manenberg for a new house amid rampant gang violence has gone viral on social media.
The tear-jerking video made by Raeefah Benjamin, 55, begging for a way out of the gang-ridden community struck a chord with residents, who called on Police Minister Bheki Cele to clamp down on skollies.
The popular aunty, who cares for abandoned children in her council flat in Erica Court, says her nerves are klaar as bullets regularly fly through her windows.
Raeefah claims that the recent gang violence is the worst it’s ever been.
“I have been living here for 48 years and you know back in the day, the gangsters would tell you to go inside because they are going to shoot,” she explains.
“Now they run right past you with guns and don’t even care if children are outside.
“[Last] Tuesday bullets came through the window and just missed us.
“The next day it happened again and I just couldn’t take it anymore and I made the video.”
Raeefah especially says she fears for the lives of her six foster children and has been begging the public for a safe place to stay.
“I didn’t do it for fame. I did it purely out of fear and just wanting a way out.
“So many people came forward to offer us a room to stay but it is not practical because I have six children in my care,” she added.
“I just wanted to also show Bheki Cele that he does not really understand what we are going through.”
More videos have surfaced showing skollies openly brandishing firearms as they continue with their bloody wars.
Manenberg police station commander Sanele Zama confirms that the recent war has seen three large gangs take aim at each other, and in the past week resulted in the death of an innocent man and two women being hospitalised.
“In Sector 1 we have a war between the HLs and the Fancy Boys after several HLs jumped over to the Fancy Boys,” Zama says.
“In sector 2 the Americans gang are refusing to allow the Fancy Boys to take over their turf and this is why they killed one of the Americans’ leaders.
“At this moment we have obtained additional resources from Metro Police and Law Enforcement but we find that the gangs just wait for them to turn the corner and they resume the shooting.”
Raeefah is not the only resident desperately seeking to leave Manenberg.
“So many people feel they want to leave the community they grew up in and make a life for themselves [elsewhere] because of these gang wars,” she says.
“We honestly can’t live like this anymore.
“If I was financially stable I would be able to leave but with my work, everything I have goes towards raising these children.”