Gangs deliver food in poor Cape Town area amid lockdown

The mask’s colors identify Preston as a member of the Americans, a criminal gang usually unwelcome on the turf of the rival Hard Livings gang.“They’d shoot me,” the 35-year-old says with what appears to be a smile, his eyes crinkling.But today, he’s working side-by-side with other notorious gang members to deliver bread, flour and vegetables to poor families who are struggling during South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown, which has closed industries and left many in Manenberg without work.Preston stands in a courtyard with the other gang members amid an unlikely truce, bowing his head as Danny, a senior member of the Hard Livings, says a prayer. According to the Mexico City-based Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, which compiled the list, Cape Town had 2,868 homicides in 2018, the second-most on the list behind Caracas, Venezuela.An attempted truce has accompanied the food distribution, and Smith said police have reported a decrease in trouble in Manenberg in recent weeks.But the grim reality is still evident.During the food delivery, the pickup truck encounters people who say a man has been stabbed to death, and the victim is a member of a gang known as the Clever Kidz.Santjie, a local leader of the gang who is riding on Steele-Smith’s truck, had earlier made a comment that has become suddenly relevant: “Life here is very quick.