‘KIDS HAVE NO RESPECT’
Cape Flats laaities terrorise elders with Guy Fawkes attacks
IT WAS mayhem on Cape Flats as several videos on social media showed laaities brutally beating people on Guy Fawkes Day.
Footage of people being assaulted with socks stuffed with stones was the order of the day, with children painted white from various communities copying the same cruel act of violence and even pelting cars with klippe.
In Elsies River, a group of children were caught on camera attacking a grown man.
The man can be seen trying to cover his face as he is cornered and outnumbered and the knocks can be heard with every hit.
In Kraaifontein, a man coming from the scrapyard with his bin was wit gesmeer by a group.
In Dennemere, a man dressed in work clothes can be seen walking down the street when a group of laatiies dressed in wigs and dresses beat him and another laaitie is seen kicking and beating the man after he tried to defend himself.
Crime groups were flooded with messages of community leaders and crime fighters calling on parents to step in and take control of their children.
Images and videos show grown men and women being the target with no exception to people coming from work.
Some parents were forced to keep their children at home out of fear for their safety.
Melvyn, a father from Roosendal in Delft, said: “Guy Fawkes is not a fun day.
“Gangsters get involved especially as there is a gang war currently on the Cape Flats and I did not want my child or myself to be a target.
"These children have no respect and every year, I am forced to keep my children at home on Guy Fawkes.”
Another woman added: “When I left for work, around 8am small laaities were already covered in white paint walking down the street.
“In the evening, it sounded like bombs going off. It got to a point where we were unsure if it was fire crackers or gunshots.
“This Guy Fawkes is only a thing on the Cape Flats where there is already a gang war. People want to ask where the authorities are, but where are the parents?
“Discipline starts at home, that is why our communities look like this.”
Chairperson of the Steenberg Community Police Forum, Nicola Small added: “What we witnessed in Lavender Hill Wednesday was deeply disturbing.
"Videos circulating on social media paint a picture of a community in turmoil, a red zone of disorder, violence and anarchy.
“Throughout the day, I saw children running through the streets with stones in socks, pelting cars and people, throwing paint, damaging property and inflicting harm, behaviour that is not only dangerous but shameful.
"Watching it unfold left me with a sickening sadness. Is this truly the future we are shaping.”
Chairperson of the Steenberg Community Police Forum, Nicola Small added, “Guy Fawkes Day was once a tradition rooted in history, but today it has become something entirely different an excuse for chaos and destruction.
What we witnessed in Lavender Hill Wednesday was deeply disturbing. Videos circulating on social media paint a picture of a community in turmoil, a red zone of disorder, violence and anarchy. Children, some barely teenagers, were the ones leading this chaos. Despite repeated calls from the CPF, community organisations and leaders for calm and parental responsibility, those appeals went largely ignored.
Throughout the day, I saw children running through the streets with stones in socks, pelting cars and people, throwing paint, damaging property and inflicting harm, behaviour that is not only dangerous but shameful. Watching it unfold left me with a sickening sadness. Is this truly the future we are shaping.
Social media is filled with questions: Where are the police? What is the councillor doing? But the question we should all be asking is: Where are the parents? Where are the adults?
Tomorrow, this will all be forgotten. There will be no accountability, and next year, we’ll repeat the same barbaric cycle.”