This paper provides insight and practical recommendations for policymakers and civil society in Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Grassy Park, a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa, bears a disproportionate burden of gangrelated violent crime. The concentration of gang violence has eroded the ability of local government – including education, social services, housing and healthcare, as well as policing and the criminal justice system – to function effectively. A concentration of effort in response to gang violence, coordinated among different branches of government, is needed in Grassy Park and similar areas – other ‘concentrations of violence’ – to break this vicious cycle.