CAPE TOWN – Kraaifontein’s very own “graffiti busters” hit the streets of Windsor Park on Saturday, kicking off a youth-led initiative aimed at removing unwanted and gang-related graffiti from their community.
Joined by ward councillor Rhynhardt Bresler and officers from the City of Cape Town’s specialised law enforcement unit, a group of local youth set out on a walkabout through the area to identify graffiti hotspots.
Armed with maps, notebooks, and a commitment to change, the group began the process of documenting graffiti for future clean-up and monitoring.
The initiative, spearheaded by Bresler, aims to not only remove unsightly graffiti but also to educate and empower the youth on the impact of illegal tagging and their role in reversing it.
“This project is about more than just paint and walls; it’s about instilling pride in our community and giving our young people a sense of ownership,” said Bresler.
The clean-up strategy includes locating and photographing graffiti across designated areas, compiling the findings into an album, and organising official clean-up days where the graffiti will be removed or painted over. The long-term plan includes a community monitoring system and a rapid response team to address new graffiti as it appears.
“The youth will be encouraged to report new graffiti as soon as they spot it,” Bresler explained, “and this will help create a sustainable system to keep our streets clean.”
Concerns grow
For 23-year-old Davido Portella, the decision to join the project was simply to be a part of the solution.
“I want to help make our community a better place for everyone, and you have to start somewhere,” he told TygerBurger during the walkabout. “Graffiti, especially gang-related, has a really negative impact, and we want to change that.”
According to Bresler, repeated feedback from Windsor Park residents revealed a growing concern over graffiti on public infrastructure, particularly stop signs, electricity boxes, and public walls.
During the event, W/O Louise Strydom from the Kraaifontein police addressed the group with an informative talk on the dangers of gang-related graffiti.
“Graffiti is a form of expression, but when used negatively, especially by gangs, creates fear and damages the community’s image,” she said.
“It’s also a criminal offence that involves the destruction of public property.”
She encouraged the youth to be the change they want to see: “Start with your own street, your own block. That’s where change begins.”
Shincheonji volunteer Anke Cyster echoed this sentiment, motivating the group to take ownership of their surroundings.
“The world we want is the world we build. That change starts with us, the young people of today.”
While graffiti began as an art form and a means of social commentary, its adoption by gangs in the late 1980s gave rise to tagging—graffiti used to claim territory or intimidate communities.
Unlike graffiti artwork, which can have artistic or cultural value, tagging is often considered senseless vandalism.
