In the past quarter, South Africa has faced national-level scandals relating to policing, corruption and organized crime. At the provincial level in the Western Cape, things have been no less turbulent, with gang violence spiking in areas with high levels of territorial conflict such as Hanover Park. Our research team has mapped out gang territories, showing how disputes over turf have driven violence.

This is the sixth issue of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime’s Western Cape Gang Monitor, an output of our South Africa Organized Crime Observatory. This series of bulletins tracks developments in Western Cape gang dynamics each quarter, to provide a concise synthesis of relevant trends to inform policymakers and civil society.

In this issue:

• The smuggling of weapons from Namibia to Western Cape gangs.
• How the removal of extortionists in Khayelitsha has opened the door to new violent entrepreneurs.
• Gang statistics are not always what they seem.
• The challengers to the Americans gang’s historical hold on Hanover Park.

The monitor draws on information provided by field researchers working in gang-affected communities of the Western Cape. This includes interviews with current and former gang members, civil society and members of the criminal justice system.