Group Areas Act Case Study

The introduction and implementation of Apartheid legislation from the 1950’s through to the mid 1980’s created ideal socio economic conditions for gang activity to take root in certain areas in Cape Town. Coupled with that was the Government’s focus to police security issues instead of focussing on crime within areas.
The Group Areas Act, Act No 41 of 1950 – assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas. An effect of the law was to prevent non-whites from living in the most developed areas. The law led to the forced removal of non-whites from homes located in areas designated for whites. The implementation of the Group Areas Act was phased in over four decades. The last recorded forced removals through
From the 1950’s through the early 1960’s resistance to force removals was passive in the form of mass demonstrations starting with the Defiance Campaign in 1952 . However, it also created subversive resistance channels that would spawn armed conflict in later years. Violent resistance to Apartheid legislation became overt after the banning of liberation movements such as the African National Congress, Pan African Congress, Azanian Peoples Organisation and other organisations that resisted the implementation of Apartheid Legislation . This was the precursor to society’s association with institutionalised violence which filtered into criminal activities at a later stage in the history of South Africa
The residential group areas for races other than white was placed away from the central business district of the City of Cape Town. Each township was managed by the municipality and the living units was rent controlled. The townships were designed as “one road in” and “one road out” road systems, which made it easy for containment in event of uprising. In most instances the road going in to the township is also the same road out of the place. These designs inadvertently paved the way for illicit criminal activities to flourish in later
This act laid the foundation for the development of criminal networks perpetuated by street gangs was displaced from areas like District Six. People were moved to different areas but the culture and network remained. In fact it’s the network that from area through displaced extended families that was also a factor in the growth of gang activity in Cape Town. The conditions in the areas that became known as the ‘Cape Flats’ allowed these loose structures of gang activity to become more organised as it gave participants a sense of being part of a specific area or territory – a sense of identity with a place. What was also evident especially in 1970’s through to the 1990’s was the growth in the use of substances such as marijuana known locally as Dagga, Mandrax – a chemical that’s added to the marijuana and the high consumption of alcohol. This created economic channels for gangs to control the many illegal outlets (merchants) as a source of income.
The state security apparatus –the South African Police, was more focussed on detaining perpetrators of opposition against Apartheid. Another focus was the policing and protection of white residential areas and business centres against crime such as burglaries, motor vehicle theft and general loitering of non- white people. This left the illegal activities to develop fairly unhindered in Apartheid