BOOK: THE ENFORCERS

[StanCT]

https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/...MpiZNG-thPENEc

"Cape Town - The tale of two cities is told between the covers of the more than 200-page book, The Enforcers: Inside Cape Town’s Deadly Nightclub Battles.

The book not only provides insight into gang history but extends much further than historic gang battlefields - it stretches into wealthy suburbs, the CBD, the winelands, across the Western Cape and ultimately across South Africa’s border.


At the centre of this turf war is Nafiz Modack, the latest kingpin to have seized control of the industry, a man often in court on various charges, including extortion.


Investigative journalist Caryn Dolley has followed Modack and his predecessors for six years as power has shifted in the nightclub security industry, and she focuses on how closely connected the criminal underworld is with the police service.
This close look into the city’s most notorious underworld kingpins has culminated in this suspense-filled page-turner.
As a young journalist at Independent Media, Dolley covered several themes - crime, politics and policing - in the Western Cape. As time went on, she says she realised that the three aspects were not as isolated as they seemed but overlapped.


Realising she was in a position to highlight the overlaps, Dolley seized the opportunity to pen what to most may seem scary. In the book, Dolley shows readers “what they may be unwittingly subjected to, how police infighting could cause a critical investigation to collapse and prevent firearms, illegally on the streets, from being recovered”.

As the former Weekend Argus reporter sat to pen down information she had collected, cutting through the lies proved to be a challenge. The jovial but cautious reporter looks around for shady characters as we meet in the CBD. She recalls an encounter she once had with a notorious ganglord known as The Moroccan. “He literally bought his drink from one club and left to another. He stopped traffic like he was Jesus,” she laughed.



Dolley, who works for amaBhungane has seen her fair share of brutality in her day. She’s no stranger to threats and danger, but refuse to allow that to deter her.
“I received a death threat in 2017 after writing about a national firearms smuggling investigation which uncovered how firearms meant to be in police custody were ending up with gangsters - the threat was that a bullet from one of those guns would be used on my head. But a threat is a threat, not the action outlined in it,” she said.

“There are different risks associated with different incidents covered.


“For example, going into a volatile area to cover gang-related issues comes with the risk of getting caught in crossfire. There were a few occasions where a photographer and I were present when shootings unfolded and all we could do was duck. At the same time, while we ducked, some residents were trying to see who was doing the shooting, that’s how desensitised some residents in gang hotspots become to what should be viewed as extraordinary criminality, but which is instead near daily reality for some residents in Cape Town,” she said.

“I’ve been in the presence of armed men. In one instance I was treated with courtesy; in another my presence wasn’t necessarily wanted but I was left alone.


“One of the biggest challenges in covering the underworld is that it’s not clear who has decent, and who has devious, intentions. It’s a world of information infused with disinformation,” explained Dolley.
The hope for others to see and understand the broader picture I pieced together was what kept me going.”
According to Dolley, the book will help readers grasp the real, gritty version of Cape Town and understanding how a murder in a gang hotspot may link to another killing in a different part of the city which, in turn, links to an illicit trade with offshoots nationally and to other countries.


Those who have not yet read the book are missing out on “a harrowing bigger picture”, which shows how a chain reaction is set off from one seemingly isolated incident and how Cape Town is a major cog in transnational organised crime.”

[wthang]

FYI. First clip I read was about the takeover. She lies through her teeth.

No guns were confiscated. No major police presence happened. No gangsters lined up against a wall and searched. The only thing that deflated the situation was Mihalik who was on retainer.

One cop mentioned was actually looked into after the fact as the cop was pretty buddy buddy with one gang boss.