Hey Mo,
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it.

Regarding the lack of background and explanation. I agree that it would be ideal to provide more. However, the article was written as a short op-ed and its length was restricted by Independent Media. So it would have been nearly impossible to get into such detail given the confines of the piece. There is however a wealth of information out there on this subject.

On the intention of Fiela, I think its a mistake to reduce it to only an attack on foreign nationals from other parts of Africa. It is true that this has been much of the focus — particularly in Joburg. However, a number of the interventions here in Cape Town have been largely divorced from that and focused ostensibly on issues they seem to want to address in the Taxi industry, rooting out gang violence in places like Manenberg and Lavender Hill.

Whether or not Fiela is only about foreign nationals or also includes a ‘crackdown’ on other criminalities or issues that they want to criminalise, isn’t the point though. The issue of how the War on Drugs has destroyed Mexico goes beyond just drugs. Any reaction to any perceived social problem that involved the militarisation of the police and the militarisation of government policy in general, has the potential for the subsequent militarisation of those they are trying to crack down on and is likely to result in further violence.

As this article points out (even though the article is limited itself), you cannot address a social problem with militarisation. Rather it must be addressed through dealing with root causes of these problems such as poverty and oppression. http://www.iol.co.za/news/gangs-a-mirror-of-society-s-shortcomings-1.1655565#.VaFbtZPh5z1