Dear gangster,
It is clear to everyone that you and your brasse are not going to stop shooting each other. But I beg you to do me a favour please.
And I am asking on behalf of every single citizen of Cape Town, especially those who live among you on the Cape Flats.
Can you please stop killing innocent people, especially children?
Last week, we experienced another completely unnecessary and avoidable death of a child. She was a 12-year-old learner starting her last year at the Ieglaasi Nieyah Primary School in Beacon Valley.
She died when a gangster’s stray bullet hit her in the eye, while she was standing on the playground.
Primary school children shouldn’t be exposed to this sort of thing – having to bury a friend, who was murdered for no reason whatsoever. And wondering whether they will be next.
I know that you (and probably your family too) have accepted the fact that because you live by the gun, you will probably die by the gun one day.
I know that you understand that that day could be today, or tomorrow.
I know you don’t fear death, and certainly not going to prison. But dying by the gun is a decision that you have come to terms with for yourself, because of the lifestyle you have chosen.
It’s not a decision that your neighbours have made for themselves. And it certainly is not a decision that you can make on their behalf.
I know you feel untouchable and invincible when you hold that gun in your hand.
I understand the power trip you get from holding someone else’s life in your hands, while pointing your gun at their heads.
I wish you would consider all the damage you are causing to not just yourself, but your entire community, every time you pull the trigger.
I know that seeing the fear and terror in the eyes of your enemies makes you feel as powerful as they will feel one day, when they are pointing their gun at you, or your child.
It’s an endless cycle that so many people have tried to break. So many things have been tried over the years and nothing has worked. It saddens me to admit that nothing brought in from the outside will ever work.
The only way the killing is ever going to stop, is if you and your brasse decide that the time to stop has come.
I am asking you to seriously consider the possibility that the time is now.
So many lives have been lost and so many young people are watching others live fearless lives and going on to live lives beyond their wildest dreams.
Deep down inside, do you not think that our own kids deserve to at least give their own dreams a shot?
I bet they could succeed, if only they could live long enough to try.
Let me ask you a question: I don’t know how many kids you have (and hopefully you do), but do you really want your sons to grow up to also be gangsters?
Or for your daughters to marry gangsters? Or have your grandchildren with a gangster?
Can you honestly say that – given a choice – you are OK with that?
The fact is, you do have choices, and I am asking you to seriously consider those choices.
If not for yourself, at least for your kids and other kids in your community.
You are in fact a leader in your community, but it’s not the kind of leadership that will benefit anyone in the long term.
Right now you are running around with a gun to make money for others, who don’t care about you or your family.
They say they do, but we both know they only care about themselves and their next big score.
Once you have been taken out by your enemy’s bullets, they will forget you within a few weeks and replace you before your body is cold.
Maybe even by one of your own kids, who will suffer the exact same fate.
Don’t you think it’s time for some new rules of engagement?
If you guys want to keep shooting each other, why not take that battle to an open field somewhere, like real soldiers.
Stand across from each other, open fire and see who is the last man standing.
And this way, nobody else gets hurt and your children can at least stand a chance to break free from this curse.
There are so many opportunities for them these days.
They can very easily grow up to become wonderful, productive and educated human beings, thanks to you and your brave decision to leave the old ways behind.
At least think about what I am begging you to do.
You can change the destiny of all the children in your community.
And the only effort you have to make is to do nothing.