Abstract:
The gun is not just an object and or a weapon; it has particular, deep relations
with those who carry and possess it. The gun is embedded in the mentality of
the man who uses it. Once gun life is inculcated in the mind, it is difficult to
leave it behind. In post-apartheid South Africa, gangs and the use of guns have
continued unabated. Despite this continued relationship between gangs and
guns, studies have skirted around the ways in which guns are experienced and
embodied in a context which is imbued with violence. Guns define the gang
members who carry them in their everyday lives, as well as the spaces in which
gangs operate. Importantly, understanding the spaces of gangs, such as the
streets, is critical to understanding the ways in which they help gangs to forge a
particular relationship with guns. This article is based on an ethnography of the
black township Gugulethu in Cape Town, South Africa.
