Athlone CPF suggests communities 'take full control' of gang violece

The Athlone community policing forum (CPF)’s chairperson, Vernon Piedt, said communities should take control of gang-ravaged areas.

Piedt shared his sentiments on Wednesday, after a nine-month-old baby was shot dead in Bridgetown on Tuesday night.

The infant girl was shot dead in a drug den, along with her mother and another woman at Sunbird Court.

Piedt said the imminent deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to gang-ravaged areas in the Western Cape will be a futile exercise.

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"They don't know how to work in the community. They are trained for combat. They don't understand the community."

Piedt said residents need to take drastic action to win back their communities from gangsters and criminals.

"We as the community should take responsibility. We as civilians should take full control of these areas... Because the government, national or provincial, has failed us."

Piedt added that the police must win back the trust of residents to curb gang violence.