It seems as if this article could be written in almost any country, and the causes of boys and girls joining gangs are the same. In this case, Shawn Swingler reports from South Africa's Daily Maverick:
[Major General Jeremy Vearey, Provincial Commander of Operation Combat] argues that a combination of drugs, lack of safe common spaces, and the intergenerational transmission of violence lead to the creation of teen gangsters. He also argues that children often look to emulate their fathers or uncles when joining gangs.
Amanshure left his gang life behind for fear of his son following in his footsteps. “I’ve used my experience to tell my son who’s in matric now that this life is not going to pay,” says [Rodney Amanshure, ex-leader of the Naughty Boys gang in Parkwood].
Others are not as fortunate.
“On the Cape Flats, your first experience with violence is not on the streets, it’s in the house,” says Vearey. “By the time that you’re 14, 15, 16, you’ve seen a hell of a lot more than what you’ve seen on the street when it comes to gender-based violence, when it comes to fighting.”
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