*WARNING: Video contains foul language
Two suspected members of a teen gang that have been robbing shops and commuters in Parkwood were nabbed by the community and one beaten up following the latest robbery on Thursday night.
Grassy Park Station Commander Colonel Dawood Laing says cops were called to the scene shortly after 1pm where three gun-toting youngsters had robbed a huiswinkel.
“The three laaities entered the store and held the owner at gunpoint where they stole cash, cigarettes and chocolates worth R2000.
“A resident captured a picture of them running over a veldjie and shortly afterwards we arrested a 13-year-old boy.”
Abduragiem Adams of the Rise Up Young Lives Matter organisation says later that evening, while hosting a youth rally, they got word that a 14-year-old “robber” had been captured by the community and was being beaten up.
“They are a group of six boys who have been robbing teens at gunpoint and stealing from shops,” says Adams.
“The boy was bleeding and had been severely beaten by other teens in Parkwood who are gatvol of being scared of them.
“It was so bad that if we didn’t step in they would have killed them.”
In a video of the incident, a crowd surrounds the boy as they beat him with sticks and throw a brick at him.
“Maak hom vrek,” one person is heard shouting.
The teen was later handed over to police.
An investigation by the Daily Voice has revealed that the 13-year-old boy was arrested in September last year for allegedly raping a disabled woman in Southfield.
At the time, six teens were busted by officers from Combat Force who caught them in the act along the railway line in Churchill Road.
The woman, who suffers from schizophrenia, was forced to lie on her stomach as the boys took turns raping her.
One of the boys allegedly told officers they followed the woman, dragged her to a bush where they “made ougat”.
The six boys appeared at Wynberg Magistrates’ Court and were released into their parents’ custody.
Laing says the two alleged robbers are set to appear in the same court this morning on business robbery charges.
Adams says the kids are causing havoc in Parkwood: “They are a group of six boys who call themselves the Agge [28s] gang and go around carrying out robberies at gunpoint. The community will have a meeting to discuss the way forward.”
monique.duval@inl.co.za