Coloured ‘gangs’ as communities in Newlands East

In the chapter, Coloured ‘gangs’ as communities in Newlands East, Wesley Oakes writes about his experiences researching and living with ‘gangsters’ in Newlands East. We see how integrated the lives of ‘gangsters’ are with the wider community. Here, they are not depicted as people who prey on their communities, but as providing communal services, even through illegal activities. Wesley illustrates this in his account of a local tuck shop which merges the licit & illicit, where zol is sold alongside bread & sweets. The owner and assistants belong to a gang, have prison records, but are valued by the community for the tuck shop.

Reference:
Oakes, Wesley. 'Coloured ‘gangs’ as communities in Newlands East', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), Undressing Durban (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 270-278.