I haven't yet said anything about the murder and extravagant burial of Rashied Staggie.
And that’s only because I hadn’t really thought about it very deeply.
That is, until last week, when I had a conversation with someone who was doing some work for me at my house.
We got to talking about gangsterism and the ongoing slaughter of young and innocent lives on the Cape Flats.
I said to him what a waste of talent and potential it all is and how young people are being fleeced by gangsters to enter a life from which there is no escape.
It’s at this point that he very innocently and casually mentioned to me about his relationship with a teenager, who is a shooter for one of the gangs.
ACT: Staggie used to give money to struggling Manenberg residents. Picture: Supplied.
Now it might have been idle bragging, but that requires another page of writing, so let me assume that it was all true.
After I talked about how innocent children are dying in gang crossfire, he mentioned how this young man wasn’t like that.
“He’s only 18, but he knows exactly who to shoot. And he never misses,” is almost exactly what he said to me.
And then he laughed admirably and added “ and to think, I used to change that kid’s bum.”
It struck me how this very decent and hard-working man held his connection to the unnamed shooter in high esteem, and how nobody was going to convince him of the evil of what he was boasting about.
This is the story I tell when people ask me why so many mense were openly paying their respects to Staggie.
In the videos of his funeral procession, you can hear several people loudly saying “salute” as the coffin passes.
Fighting gangsterism with soldiers and increased police presence are very important and should continue.
NO HERO: Rashied Staggie. Picture: Supplied.
But there is a mental battle that is being ignored, because it is so sinister and almost impossible to combat, and that is the inexplicable admiration and respect that gangsters have among children and adults on the Cape Flats.
We ask peace-loving residents to piemp the skollies and we ask mothers to give up their gun-toting kids, but we forget that those are the same kids who feed the families with their gang activities.
We forget that these gangsters often dish out money and food parcels to starving neighbours.
We forget they are charming, loving and sweet kids in their mommies’ homes.
To fight gangsterism from all angles, we will also need to acknowledge these facts; and combine crime-fighting with a very effective counter-PR campaign that deglamourises gang life.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za