Roegchanda Pascoe has been living in Manenberg for 33 years and says she wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Photo courtesy of Roegchanda Pascoe.
18 September 2013
Roegchanda Pascoe and her younger brother have watched through the window of their home as rival gangs fought with each other day in and day out. But Pascoe says she doesn’t see herself living anywhere but Manenberg.
Pascoe, 38, has been living in gang-ridden Manenberg since she was five. Back then, when they moved into a house in Thames Walk, a gang member had been killed in it a week before.
“There were two notorious gangs called the Scorpions and the Jesters. One of the Jester members stabbed to death a Scorpion member, who had run inside the house to hide. My brother and I used to watch through the window as gang members carried knives and pangas and used iron bin lids to cover themselves. It was like watching a movie,” she recalls.
She says it was not easy growing up in Manenberg as one constantly had to be on the lookout, and walk in groups for protection.
“It was a tough life growing up. Both my parents were alcoholics and I had to take care of my four younger brothers because I was the eldest. I did my best to make sure that we did not end up in any trouble or get mixed up in the chaos that was happening around us,” says Pascoe.
She finished her primary education in Edendale Primary, one of the schools that was recently closed for two days by the education department because of gang violence. She then attended Phoenix High School. She stayed till Grade 9.
Pascoe said she left school because she needed to get a job to help take care of her siblings. They were placed in the care of their grandparents as foster children. She got her first job at a local clothing factory.
“It was really tough because even though I tried my best to take care of myself and my brothers, one of them ended up doing crime and drugs and got arrested. I am a community activist and I am also involved in a youth programme with the Manenberg People’s Centre. Even without funding, we are trying our best to make the lives of our youth better and to keep them out of trouble.”
Pascoe now lives in Manenberg’s Pecos Walk which she says is also notorious for gangs such as The Hard Livings and the Americans.
“Despite what is happening here with these gangs, our community is still the friendly and close community I grew up in. I am a vocal person and have many friends, and I use this voice to stand up against these crimes. Everyone knows me, I have even received threats to my life, that’s the reason I had to disconnect my landline. But I will not be stopped from doing what I can for my community.”
This story has been fact-checked by GroundUp.