Inside South Africa’s occult gang culture

Guest: Dr Ashwill Ramon Phillips | Lecturer and Postgraduate Supervisor, Department of Criminology, University of the Free State

Occult gangs in South Africa mix spiritual beliefs with violence—using rituals, and muti to gain power and spread fear. Dr Ashwill Ramon Phillips reveals how these groups operate and why new approaches to crime prevention are essential

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You with Cape Talk.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is Africa Milani on Early Breakfast. It's seven minutes
now to six o'clock. A paper published on the conversation,
I suppose piqued my interest. It's titled Devil, Worship, Muti
and Murder, What's behind the growth of occult Gangs in
South Africa and it's penned by doctor Ashwell Roman Phillips,

(00:24):
who's a lecturer and postgraduate supervisor in the Department of
Criminology at the University of the Free State. Ashwell, A
very good morning and welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Morning Africa. Thanks very much to.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Say that this is one of the most disturbing reads
I have enjoyed in the last while would be an
understatement of note. I live in Cape Town and we
obviously are off a with gangs and gang related crime
in Cape Town. And if you live in parts like
Westbury and other such areas in Johannesburg, it'ld also be
o fay with them. But in the Free State they

(00:57):
seem to operate differently.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Years Africa, we the kind of wave the start of
gangs around the late nineties, sort of nineteen ninety six,
nineteen ninety seven, and we sort of tries their origin
back to an evil church or what they call a
devil worshiping group that practiced in parts of Northern Africa
and that later moved down to Masero and Lasutu. Eventually

(01:23):
then they crossed the border into the Free Strike in
South Africa, and they basically merge their beliefs in witchcraft
and multi related practices with more Western concepts of Pseudocytanism
and anti Christianity. And that's actually what Guy Rise to.
What communities like are called these devil worshiping gangs.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
What does the act of devil worshiping resultant? I mean,
they seem to be a messing, a power of sorts,
I imagine, right.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, you see that that's actually a snowma for communities
and for even for gang members themselves to refer to
them or to these groups as devil worshiping gangs. Because remember,
there is a lot of diversity amongst the gangs as well.
In the Free State, we've got about forty gangs you know,
that are involved in occult related practices. So to say

(02:20):
that all of them are devil worshiping groups is not
totally accurate. So you do have some that believe in
and practice devil worshiping. But you also have other groups
that only practice and that are involved in witchcraft and
you know, multi related practices. So what sets these groups

(02:40):
apart from your typical street gangs as you say, that
are usually active in areas like the Cape Flats and Westbury,
is that occult ideology is embedded within their belief system.
So in other words, it's reflected in their symbols, in
their tattoos, in their irachical structure, and in their rich
polistic practices. And those practices range, for instance, from spiritual

(03:05):
gatherings to blood oaths to sacrificial initiation. Right, they believe
in demonic possession, They believe that motim views them with
supernatural powers, and they then use all of these factors
for criminal gain.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Basically, and that is the ultimate objective, right, criminal gain.
They want to whatever they're trading in, could be drugs,
could be other factors. They want to amass as much
wealth from that as possible.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, not necessarily only wealth, but criminal gain definitely. Because
remember that there's also a distinct difference between these type
of groups, which are you know, sort of conforming to
the typical definition of being a criminal gang and other
groups that just conform to being a religious cult or

(03:55):
a sect. So what sets them apart is that criminal
behavior remains a central feature of these groups and that's
what makes them gangs. So in other words, yeah, it's
not just a cull that's performing rituals not causing any harm.
The intent is to cause harm.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
And in the paper you suggest that because we are
seeing this evolution, if you like, our response has to
evolve as well.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yes, for me, that's very important, and what I did
in my doctoral studies I actually try to develop a
new gang typology. So the crux for me is to
make existing intervention strategies and preventative measures. They are based
on your more typical street gangs, which focus around more

(04:45):
typical risk factors such as poverty and unemployment and a
lack of belonging and now positive or pro social recreational opportunities,
academic failure, all those sort of things. But your traditional
strategies don't take into account the spiritual or cultural elements
that are one of the key drivers of this type
of gang. And that's why for any intervention or in

(05:09):
or strategy to be effective, you must actually also make
the spiritual component and this cultural belief system a central
element of that prevention or rehabilitation strategy.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
It's an important paper, Ashal, thank you very much for
researching it and writing it, and thank you for chatting
to us this morning about it. It's titled Devil Worship,
Muti and Murder, What's behind the growth of Occult Gangs
in South Africa. It's published on the Conversation dot com.
It's penned by doctor Ashle Raymond Phillips, who's a lecturer
and postgraduate supervisor in the Department of Criminology at the

(05:45):
University of the Free State. Fascinating read. Indeed, our deston
encourage you to go and read it.