2004 Volume 4
Criminals Go Christmas Shopping
By Edwin Herrendorfer
Christmas may be a time for giving. This is one time of the year when people of all races, colours, religions and nationalities love to spend their hard-earned cash on themselves or loved ones. They’ve worked the whole year, have saved a bit of cash - just for Christmas. Even those wanting to refurbish their homes, buy a new car or go on holiday love to do it during Christmas. Yet Christmas is also a time for taking. “As you buyeth, so the criminal taketh,” some have said. As you go shopping, so does the criminal. For criminals also love Christmas. They go on a shopping spree of their own. And they do not need to work a whole year to get what they want. They don’t need to have hefty bank accounts or saving schemes. With criminals, it is different. The chief difference between your shopping and that of the criminal is the fact that the criminal shops off your shopping.
Many people who have spent large sums of money – either on themselves or others – may never get to enjoy their purchases. Intended recipients of elaborate Christmas gifts may never get to see or touch their gifts. Those who opted for a holiday outside South Africa may return to their homes, all tired and happy to be home, only to find that their gifts have been stolen. Some criminal has decided to shop in your house.
“It’s Christmas time again,” I overheard a man in his twenties say. (His words sparked off the idea for this article). “Time to go shopping. All over Cape Town, the “manne” are on the move. They are getting ready to hit the specials and the give-aways,” he laughed. At any other time, this may have seemed like a man planning a genuine shopping spree - where he intends using his own money to pay for his shopping. Unfortunately, it was not the case. What he meant was that it was time for them to home in on the thousands of shoppers across Cape Town, relieving them of their purchases. From his words, we can pick up that this is an annual occurrence. Gangs all over Cape Town will be involved. During the next few days, I tried to figure out what this meant and how it was done, by speaking to an ex-gangster I had met at the Ark (a shelter for homeless and destitute people, where criminals sometimes came to live or hide).
“My broe,” he said. “This thing happens every year. Man, we just wait for end October beginning November. Yah, then we hit Cape Town. Golden Acre (a shopping mall), the taxi rank, everywhere! All these people coming with their big bags and large purses. I tell you, it puts us in the Christmas mood.”
The Loner
According to this ex-gangster and his friends, there are many types of “setups” during the festive season. One of them is the loner. This person, as the name implies, operates alone. However, this type of operative is quite rare, especially this time of year. It is impractical for one person to go on a “mission” alone. The individual has no backup when he needs it. “What many people don’t know is that the one person they see running away is just one of a group. When they catch that one person, the rest get away with the money or purse or jewellery.”
With a loner, there is nobody to pass the stolen items to. Thus, when a loner does get caught, it is usually with all the goods in their possession. This also means they have no way of denying that they have committed the crime.
However, this type of criminal does exist, even during Christmas. They normally target women and children, and the elderly. Even the disabled are not safe from them. The loner can be very successful, when luck comes their way and make quite a bit picking pockets and committing petty crimes. Operating alone creates a strong sense of independence among criminals. For starters, they have the loot all to themselves, they are answerable to nobody should an operation go askew, and they can operate when and where they please. These factors override the fear of being caught alone and without backup.
The loner’s operations are not usually planned in advance, but on the spur of the moment. What he sees, where he sees it and on whom he sees it may prompt a loner into action even if his intentions were to go elsewhere. “I just walk – in town, anywhere – maybe going to visit one of my broers (my friends). If I see you got something nice, money, a “lekke vet” (nice and fat) wallet, I decide. Maybe you’re alone, and you look scared. I grab you; I trip you. I riffle your pockets; take your watch, anything – the chain on your neck. Even your shoes, jacket, whatever – if I see they are quality. Yah. Quality. Not rubbish. Then I run. Sometimes the police catch me. Or the people. If they do, I go in, for a short time. I’m back again, ready to shop.”
A loner resorts to violence occasionally. Killing or injuring, it would seem, hardly ever takes place. The reason behind this is that they do not like to attract unnecessary attention to themselves. But there are groups of loners who believe that they can only get what they want if they produce a knife or other weapon. They would also use it if necessary. “Only okes on drugs and alcohol use a knife when alone. I don’t. I carry it, but I don’t use it. But if the person refuses to give me what I want, or makes a noise – it makes me ‘maal.’ Then I can just stab them. But I haven’t done it yet.”
Housebreaking
Another distinctive group I was told about are those that break into homes and remove loot while occupants are away. Or when they think they are away. This type of operation suits a small group of criminals, comprising two or three individuals. “You need speed and agility. More than three people may be too much. How can they all go into a house, climb through small windows, without making a sound and come out alright? No, man. Not me.”
Criminals know that many families will be away on holiday during the festive season. This means that their homes will be unattended, lonely and a mouth-watering prospect to any criminal on his rounds. Deterrents - such as dogs, the latest in burglar alarm systems, patrolling security companies hired to watch your house, as well as the police – are no deterrents at all. Once criminals have made up their minds to get into your house and help themselves to your belongings, they will do just that. It’s what’s inside that draws them, not what’s outside.
“One must stand guard, and whistle if he spots trouble. The other gets in, through the window, or we break the door, if we can. But don’t let the people come home and you’re inside. ‘Dan’s jy klaar, my boeta. Klaar.’(Then you are finished, my brother. Finished).”
House breakers do carry weapons. Knives and illegal guns. If they are surprised while inside, they may use their weapons to get out. The results could be tragic, often resulting in death. If they know that people are inside, and they want to get in and rob them, they would burst in, demand items and money, and kill whom they want. Farm murderers do that.
Gangs
By far the largest majority of criminals belong to gangs. Gangs are usually stronger, better organised and they are better able to avoid capture and arrest. They may not normally know what their “mission” may bring them, but they would at least know where it will take place, how they would disperse or regroup.
Gang members would usually meet at a pre-planned spot – like a busy shopping centre, taxi/bus terminus or other places filled with people going about their Christmas shopping. Numbering from two to more than ten members, each individual takes up a strategic position, preferably where they get a clear view of each other, yet in such a way that members of the public and the police do not notice that they are together.
“We watch, my broe. You see all kinds of people – thin people, fat people, white, black, brown. Yah, all kinds. Some look full of themselves, thinking they are better than us. You just feel you want to rob such people. Then some show off their money. They don’t know – that’s what we want. When we see it’s okay, we give the signal….”
One member, the one giving the signal, is usually the one that spotted the “move” and takes action. He rushes in, grabs – or does what he has to do to get the item – and runs in the direction of a second member who grabs and heads off in another direction. With so many people, the culprits easily disappear into the crowds. At the end of the “move”, the snatched item may have changed hands several times. Members use different routes to regroup at a specified spot. They simply move elsewhere, where the public or police have not been alerted yet. At the end of the day, they may have completed a few “moves’ and would share the spoils. Drinking, drugging and women would become their form of celebration.
Gangs tend to get violent. It seems that they have confidence in their numbers, easily brandishing weapons and using them to get what they want. Many people have died in such situations. Some have died even when they complied and handed over their belongings or money. Others have been killed simply because they had nothing. Gangsters tend to get irritated when they find that people whom they attack, have nothing. This is because by attacking that person, their cover has been blown. They have to leave the area, since members of the public have identified them when they attacked someone whom they thought had something of value. They don’t discriminate. Men, women and children – black, white or coloured - are all fair game.
Conclusion
So, while going out shopping, hoping to splash out and spoil yourself (or someone else), know that criminals are also going shopping. They have, like you, waited all year for this time to splash out. Whether they act alone or in a group, belong to a gang or are housebreakers, they are on a mission – a mission to take away your belongings, money – or your life.