GOOD Statement by Kaden Arguile ,
GOOD National Youth Chairperson
09 January 2025
The GOOD Party condemns the escalating gang violence in the Western Cape, it is robbing our youth of their future. Neither the national police force nor the considerable crime fighting resources of the province and City of Cape Town are having any impact.
With the new year came the new hope that the systemic culture of violence in the Western Cape will be eradicated so that the next generation can thrive safely.
Sadly, one week into 2025 and a five-year-old child (Ameer Abrahams) has been shot in the head. A tragedy and by-product of the Gang Violence culture that has been allowed to grow in this province.
The GOOD Party utterly condemns this act of barbarism.
We call upon the full power of the provincial policing force to ensure that justice is given to this child, the women wounded in their attempts to shield the young boy and the community of Manenberg who have had to endure this loss.
The violent culture of the Western Cape continues to grow despite the intervention plans put in place by provincial powers.
ShotSpotter, aerial drones and virtual shooting simulators have all taken millions of rand from the budget with the justification that we as a province would see an immediate decline in violence within this country. The reality is the opposite.
In 3 months at the end of 2024 we saw 234 out of 270 gang related murders occur in the Western Cape.
The City of Cape Town also had five out of the top ten murder hotspots nationwide per the latest crime stats. This achievement is a pattern found in contact crimes and GBV assault as well.
Western Cape youth face a grim reality with the safety of their future.
- Violence through murder, contact crime and GBV continues to grow every 3 months continuously over the past years.
- The current safety plan is a failure that has already cut into other sectors like health and education’s budget. The brunt of this failure will impact the youth in these crime-ridden communities who will pay the price either economically or through a continued delay to achieving safety in the communities they will grow up in.
- The continued implementation of ‘red zones’ means that any youth in these communities have to live in the constant fear that if violence does occur, they will not receive the justified medical response due to the community’s level of crime.
This culture of violence being normalised is terrifying to future generations. Now a young boy of five bears the brunt of this failure.
The youth of this province deserve better and unless we tackle aspects of this reality effectively the culture will never change.
GOOD mourns the loss of a son from the South African soil. Our thoughts, prayers and energy as a community are fully with the Abrahams family.
Our society failed to safeguard the dreams and innocence of youth. We hope this will never be repeated.
Media enquiries:
Kaden Arguile: GOOD National Youth Chairperson
Cell: 072 4451437
Email: kaden@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 083 5509875
Email: samantha@forgood.org.za