Gang-related crime in South Africa is widespread, however is under-reported exterior hotspots such because the Cape Flats in Cape City or Westbury in Johannesburg. In these areas gangs are deeply rooted and contribute to ongoing violence, drug trafficking and territorial battle.
However gangs have continued to evolve and gang violence has constantly elevated all through South Africa, notably within the Gauteng and Free State provinces. Within the Free State within the east-central a part of the nation, devil-worshipping and witchcraft-related gang practices have been reported.
Gang-related violence is fuelled by poverty, social exclusion, unemployment and the necessity for cover from rival gangs.
In my doctoral research in criminology, I explored the phenomenon of occult-inspired gangs within the Free State. I interviewed 23 lively gang members, 16 offenders who weren’t affiliated to gangs, and 18 service suppliers like social staff and correctional officers working with these teams.
In a newer research I developed a typology of occult gangs: a framework that captures their construction, symbolism, hierarchy and non secular practices.
This issues as a result of with a view to forestall gang-related crime it’s important to know how they function.
The rise of Free State occult gangs
In 1997, a South African Police Service investigation uncovered a so-called satan worshipping group or “evil church” that had migrated from components of northern Africa and established itself in Maseru, Lesotho (South Africa’s neighbour). This group reportedly blended occult practices with conventional African witchcraft. This led native communities to label it as a devil-worshipping gang.
A BTK gang tattoo.
Ashwill Ramon Phillips
Since 2011, teams like this have expanded throughout the Free State. There are actually about 40 such gangs lively within the province, as reported by the police and confirmed in my analysis. Among the higher identified gangs are the Triple 6 (666), Born-To-Kill (BTK), Pure Born Killers (NBK), Worldwide Junior Portuguese (IJP), and Maroma (Romans/Romas).
Extra typical avenue gangs are largely identified for increasing their territory by way of revenue from the drug commerce and extortion. However these Free State gangs incorporate spirituality and esoterism (particular hidden data) to say dominance, foster cohesion and generate concern inside communities.
They have interaction in severe crimes together with homicide, organ trafficking and rape. They’re notably identified for acts equivalent to ritual stabbings, cannibalism, and alleged communication with demonic forces.
NBK gang tattoo.
Ashwill Ramon Phillips
The communities during which these teams function, and gang members themselves, check with them as “devil worshipping gangs”. That is due to the specific hyperlink between sure gang-related practices and satanism, or the worship of the satan as depicted within the Christian bible.
Some teams merge beliefs and rituals associated to Devil and anti-Christianity with witchcraft. Or they use symbols generally related to satanism equivalent to “666” and inverted crosses. However labelling all such teams as “devil worshipping gangs” is deceptive. The time period “occult gangs” higher captures the vary of practices concerned.
Whereas each satan worshipping and witchcraft-related practices can play a job in legal gang exercise, they differ in origin and kind. Satan worshipping attracts from western occult traditions, utilizing symbols and rituals to strengthen gang identification. Witchcraft-based practices usually contain the malicious use of muti (conventional African drugs) and muti murders (murders for physique components to make use of in muti). As one participant informed me:
Sure, there are gangs that consider in muti. There are additionally gangs that consider within the satan. IJP and Roma consider in muti, whereas BTK and Triple 6 consider in getting energy from the satan. They are saying they converse to Lucifer to offer them powers.
So, notorious gangs within the Free State should not solely dreaded for his or her brutality but in addition for his or her reported hyperlinks to ritual homicide, blood oaths, the usage of muti and the consumption of human organs and blood. In line with my analysis these actions have progressed from being seen as city legends and neighborhood myths to turning into lived realities.
Contained in the gangs
My gang typology research pattern consisted of 39 male offenders, aged 14 to 38. Contributors had been both serving sentences or awaiting trial for severe offences equivalent to homicide, rape and armed theft.
The gang members spoke brazenly about searching for energy by way of supernatural means. Some believed that consuming blood and taking part in occult rituals might make them invisible to police and invincible towards their enemies. As one informed me:
The minute you drink blood you’re invoking spirits to turn into a part of you, demons to turn into a part of you, and provide the powers that it’s good to do what you must do…
A drawing by a Triple 6 gang member.
Ashwill Ramon Phillips
Ritual stabbings, inverted crosses, and the “mark of the beast” (“666”) had been a part of their gang symbolism – seen in gang graffiti and tattoos and furthered by involvement in non secular gatherings and the usage of muti.
These components kind a part of a shared gang ideology that gives that means, identification and goal to marginalised younger folks. I discovered that the gang members in my research typically lacked household help, social help or important formal training.
To forestall younger folks from becoming a member of gangs, it’s essential to know what pulls them in. A number of individuals described becoming a member of gangs not just for wealth, safety or standing, however for a way of non secular energy. Particularly in communities the place conventional faith, ancestral beliefs and Christian teachings coexist and typically collide.
My typology of occult gangs has the potential to tell focused prevention programmes, rehabilitation efforts and policing methods that take the non secular realities of gang members critically.
A brand new method to combating crime is required
The rise of occult gangs has now progressed past the Free State. Comparable tendencies are noticed within the Japanese Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape provinces.
The intersection of religion, concern and violence in these gangs challenges mainstream approaches to crime prevention. Conventional anti-gang methods assume that gangs are pushed primarily by socioeconomic elements or rational incentives. They fail to account for non secular motivations and metaphysical beliefs.
The presence of formality components complicates investigations and amplifies concern. It makes gangs appear extra highly effective than they’re.
On the identical time, public establishments such because the police and social staff typically lack the frameworks and cultural sensitivity to handle the non secular dimensions of the offences perpetrated by these teams.
A drawing by a BTK gang member.
Ashwill Ramon Phillips
The battle with the occult gangs in South Africa mirrors comparable challenges in different nations, like Nigeria, the DRC and Haiti, the place non secular symbolism and ritualised violence are central to gang identification.
Efficient interventions should embrace culturally grounded methods to assist members disengage from gangs, involving conventional leaders, healers, faith-based actors and psychological well being professionals.
By addressing the non secular, social, and psychological dimensions of gang involvement, extra sustainable pathways out of those teams could be created.
Gang violence in South Africa is evolving, and so should the response. It shouldn’t simply punish younger offenders, however provide them a real various.
