For years, gangsterism stole their freedom through prison bars, street corners, and the fear of never making it home alive.
As we commemorate Freedom Day on 27 April, three men who have lived through gang culture, violence and prison reveal what it means to truly break free.
Reuben Stone, 28, was once a member of the Numbers gang in Factreton and Kensington. He was sentenced to between seven and 10 years’ imprisonment and was released on 1 September 2023.
While serving his sentence at Drakenstein Correctional Centre, Stone became a born-again Christian on 27 March 2021 and has since become involved in prison ministry, helping lead others out of gangsterism while also mentoring young people in the community.
Stone reflected on the meaning of this month’s special holiday, which marks South Africa’s first post-Apartheid democratic election in 1994.
Stone said: “Freedom Month is one of the pinnacle months in our country’s history.
“And because of Apartheid, many of us, by us I mean brown-skinned people, our ancestors were moved into the so-called Cape Flats areas.
“As life went on, our youngsters grew up in these areas, and they were not as free anymore, because eventually certain people in authority maintained a cycle that led to the Cape Flats being filled with drugs and violence.”
He added that this created a structure of oppression where many youngsters grow up wanting material things and, in trying to obtain them, fall victim to gangsterism.
Stone said this has caused many laaities to become enslaved to a dangerous mindset and a false sense of identity.
He added: “This mindset then affects youngsters, keeping them in gangs.
“But if mentors and parents stop supporting kids in wrongdoing and let go of protecting their child no matter what, that is the moment they will be open-minded enough to see the red flags.”
Since his release, Stone has taken it upon himself to mentor youngsters, saying those who want a different future need to break free from the false indoctrination that has kept generations trapped.
Stone said: “Nobody is to blame for your future; you are the one who needs to empower yourself to become better. Let your environment motivate you to be who you want to be.”
Stone’s journey of transformation behind bars is one shared by others who found themselves trapped in the same tragic cycle.
One of those men is Vuyani Nduemla, who served time alongside Stone and says prison only made him realise the true value of freedom.
Nduemla said that before being locked up for murder between 2018 and 2023, freedom had been something he had taken for granted.
He explained: “I didn’t value freedom until my freedom was taken away from me. Freedom to me means that you can do things the way you want to do them at your own pace at any given time.
“It’s the freedom to yourself, expressing yourself, and simply being there.”
He said the brutal experience of prison changed the way he sees gangsterism and forced him to live differently.
Now out of prison, he runs his own carpentry business and says this is the life he always wanted instead of being known as a notorious figure in his community.
Nduemla explained: “While I was in prison, I was struggling with having a sense of belonging and for people to recognise me.
“Like many young men, they struggle with that, and what they struggle with impacts how they see themselves.
“For me, it was about having a sense of belonging, and I saw the same thing in my peers, that they wanted recognition, but those things are not beneficial because you get compelled to participate in those activities.
“When I came out, the hardest part internally was wondering how my community looked at me, because I now had the stigma of being a criminal.
“But the Lord helped me not to centre my identity on how people looked at me, but on how the Lord looks at me.”
For former gang leader Shewaan “Tantjies” Jumat, freedom is not just about being outside prison walls, but finally finding peace after nearly two decades of violence, drugs, and living in fear.
Jumat, who started a gang at just 14 and ran drug operations for almost 20 years, now spends his time steering youth away from the same path under his slogan: “Raak rich in mind or get left behind.”
He explains that freedom for him is simple.
Jumat said: “I can wake up every morning and know I am safe. It is so wonderful just to wake up and know that I can now be a father to my children, and having a peaceful life is the best freedom.”
Looking back on what kept him trapped for so many years, Jumat said money was everything.
Jumat explained: “I was trapped because I was on the side of making money, and I enjoyed it. I ate from the street, and few people can really say that they ate from the ground.
“Money was my biggest worry because I had everything in the time of gangsterism from the life I built, and despite having 100 times less than what I had back then, I am 100 times happier.
“My message to young people on the Cape Flats this Freedom Month is that death, prison, heartache, and poverty are all that wait for you in gangsterism and the streets.”