The Deadly Playground One Gate In, No Gate Out

By Victor Waynewright

This book chronicles the lives of three high ranking members of the Number Gang in South Africa. The Gang is supposed to rule the prison system through manipulation, danger and fear. The 3 covicted killers and thieves have spoken out about the secrecy of the Number Code. Their true identities have been hidden as if they were to be exposed their punishment is death. This is their life story, from the day they entered a life of crime to the day they leave this earth either from natural causes or from gang related violence. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Victor Waynewright
• Release date: Nov 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201649845

Book preview

the true stories of the notorious number gang as told by three high ranking members of the 2  ’s

Preface

It still fascinates me that I am sitting with a murderer(s), burglar, and a drug lord, who are confessing to me about the crimes that they have committed! It is a strange, volatile dynamic, but step by step the mood between us became less strained as we built up a strange relationship of trust, even if the mood was lightened by sandwiches, Coca-Cola and good old fashioned Camel cigarettes.

I have regularly heard people saying that they are bored with their job, and yes I fall into that category as well. I think that following the interviews with The Boys, I chose to not state the boredom outburst again.

I feel that most people will find it boring to live in the way I will outline now. Bearing in mind that this daily routine can span from a few years to life in one of South Africa‟s many maximum security prisons.

5am: Wake up, shower and pray

7am: Breakfast-the monotony of pap-porridge

Exercise in the yard (if you are allowed to do this)

11am: Snack: Maize, Raw Carrots, Meat and maybe some vegetables

Back into your overcrowded cell

2pm-3pm: Lunch(Last meal of the day): Bread with fat and jam (5 slices, known as a kat-kop-a cat‟s head)

3pm onwards: Lockdown in your overcrowded cell

This is the routine that has been followed by my interviewees, The Boys on numerous occasions. This is their true account of Gang Life, Prison Life and Life as a member of the notorious Number 26 Gang.

I thank The Boys for being so open and frank with their stories, and opening my eyes to something I saw as an evil-the evil of crime and gangsterism.

I feel that I have become a better person for sharing their lives through their stories, and I have a new understanding for people less fortunate in our

Rainbow Nation. My eyes have truly been opened, but, I categorically state that I do not defend them for the crimes that they have committed or for the people that they are. They are vicious and violent individuals who I have connected with. They are not bad people, but many people may disagree with me, but I think that the individuals thinking that they are bad are blinkered. But, each person has their own opinion, as I do. I am not ashamed of my personal stance towards The Boys as I feel that they are the product of a society that has shunned them because of their colour and by false promises. They are what they are, and to me they will remain humans.

I hope that their stories touch you as they have me and make you ask questions not only about yourself, but that of a community and a South African Nation.

Will My Boys kill again and commit crimes again after their stories are printed? That is a question only they can answer. I can only hope that they do

decide to walk a straighter path, no matter how difficult. They say that this is a possibility with spiritual guidance and with the assistance of God.

Genesis-The Beginning

Sicko: When you pack humans into cages like sardines the cage spits out tattooed  gang members. That‟s just life and that‟s just how it will always be.

Stoffel: I am not worried about what  I have done, or what I am, I am worried about the day I die and meet God, how many times can he forgive me? I think he is gatvol (fed up) with me!

Silver Grey: I say nothing, because I know that my path in this life is not finished. I cannot help it anymore!

What I have learnt from my journey with The Boys, is that a prison gang is an organization that acts with military precision, and operates a system that jail is supposed to keep them away from communities. It is a self- sufficient criminal entity,

consisting of a group of inmates who are governed by a strict, secretive code of conduct and that this code govern the chain of command.

Our Genesis started on the 15th November 2012, this is when we sat down for the first time together for the first interview. Little did I know where this journey would take me or has taken me, as presently, what My Boys predicted, has indeed happened, especially in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

During the Apartheid Era in South Africa, if you addressed a non-white as boy, it was deemed a derogatory term and you were classified as a racist. I use the term, My Boys with the utmost respect. I do not use it to undermine these guys, I use it as a term of endearment. It is in my best interests, as well as the best interests of my family, that I show them respect as these guys can turn on you in the blink of an eye if provoked by far reaching questions. It happened, I learnt from it!

I have always been fascinated with Gang Culture around the World and I know that this is primarily the reason why I decided to walk the road into the unknown secrets of the Number with My Boys. The three guys, who I interviewed and continually interview are hardened criminals.

I will state now that I have used their prison names as well as their prison identities. You will hear this many times in this writing. What they say to me from the outset is that a king has never won a war, but the soldiers have. That is how they see themselves. They are the soldiers of the Number.

My Boys go by the names of Stoffel (convicted murderer, drug dealer, kidnapper), Sicko Boy(convicted burglar), and by all accounts he has murdered but has never been convicted for murder and then the third individual goes by the names of Silver Grey, Smiley Grey and Happy Chicko Boy(convicted murderer, burglar,  and drug dealer.) I will mention him only as Silver Grey.

I felt it appropriate to call this chapter Genesis, as it is our beginning and as you will see it will meander into the book of revelations, just as the Bible does. This is strangely apt as these guys, no matter what their crimes or how they live their day to day lives are hugely religious and believe that God has a greater plan for them. What that plan is, we as a collective group have no idea what it could be?

Is this their first step to redemption, to speak to me about the Number?

Are they trying to find some solace or peace within themselves about their crimes by exposing the Number?

These are questions that I ask myself before each meeting with The Boys. Just to indicate who sits opposite me on a daily basis, are three individuals who if arrested again will have no chance of receiving bail. They will go directly into prison (again) due to the fact they are viewed as threats to society and appalling individuals by the South African Judicial System. They are well known and

highly respected members of the Number, a gang that has and always will be a threat to the jails of South Africa.

It has taken quite a while to finally make the steps to write about the highly respected and notorious Numbers Gang that is said run the prison system in South Africa. They specifically run St Albans in the Eastern Cape and this is where my journey has taken me. I am not an exinmate of this establishment, however I did do a lot of business with wardens, who unknowingly imparted a lot of stories to me on a daily basis. Will I go into secrets of the Number that I shouldn‟t delve into that makes me do a double take on every occasion I am surrounded by different South African ethnic groups? Honestly and emphatically I will state, Yes!

All I want to say is that I respect and appreciate the inside knowledge that my friends have bestowed upon me. The Number is possibly the most  secretive  Prison  Gang  in  the  World  and  I

appreciate the risk my interviewees have taken to get this book onto shelves.

I hope this book opens peoples‟ minds up to what it is like in there. Remember this is Port Elizabeth, the so called Ghost of the Coast, not Cape Town, especially not Pollsmoor Prison or Johannesburg and that all accounts contained within these pages are actual events spoken by three violent individuals, who to date are trying to change their criminal ways and let Faith guide them further in their  life‟s  journey.  These  three  individuals  are  to me The Forgotten Children of the Apartheid Era as well as The Forgotten Children of post 1994. Please bear in mind that I grew up in the Apartheid era and I have my own opinions and views on South Africa presently and through the Apartheid Era.

I personally embrace change, however, when communities are forgotten, the rich get richer through corruption and extortion and the poor get poorer, through false hope and promises, then that

is the time I feel that that this is totally unacceptable and something needs to be done, no matter how small. This book concentrates on three small voices in our world, yet powerful voices within the prison system-their own words, On the outside, we are fucked over, on the inside no-one dares fuck with us, we are the Number, we are strong, we have power and we rule the system! The Wardens and the system shit themselves for US and what we are capable of doing!

These words are as true as the Prison System in South Africa is corrupt-that‟s putting it bluntly! I know that not all wardens fall into the corrupt group, but we all know that many do fall prey to what is on offer by The Number-I do not really blame these corrupt officials as they are also part of the Government equation of false hope and promises. They were allocated jobs, but prisons across South Africa are overcrowded (disgusting conditions) and the system does not have the manpower or capacity to keep The Number in check. The

Numbers rules the Prison System. Everyone has an opinion, you are open to voice it as you