The Hard Livings gang is a large

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

and

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

group based in Manenberg,

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. A number of other smaller gangs form part of the Hard Livings gang and owe allegiance to it. The Hard Livings used to be one of two 'super gangs' in Cape Town with the other one being ''The Americans''. The gang was formed in 1971 by

Rashied Staggie Rashied Staggie (1961 - 13 December 2019) was a South African gangster and leader of the Hard Livings gang. He was shot and killed in Salt River on 13 December 2019, in Cape Town, South Africa. His twin brother, Rashaad Staggie, the initial le ...

and his twin brother Rashaad. The gang started out as a criminal street gang mostly involved in drug distribution for which they competed with the Americans gang. After their distribution network grew, the Hard Livings gang as well as their rivals evolved into a structured criminal organization involved in a wide range of criminal activities. In 1996 Rashaad was publicly set alight and killed by the

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

group

PAGAD People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) is a group formed in 1996 in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa. The organisation came to prominence for acts of vigilante violence against gangsters, including arson and murder. Origins P ...

. In December 2019, Rashied was shot and killed in the same street where Rashaad was killed. In the 1990s and early 2000s the gang was known to have had a strong presence in the wealthy Green Point and

Sea Point Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is one of Cape Town's most affluent and densely populated suburbs, situated between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). Moving from ...

areas of Cape Town. The gang is known to have been involved in both international and local organized crime. Their local activities range from drug running & trading, poaching, protection rackets, prostitution and

shebeen A shebeen ( ga, síbín) was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, the ...

ing (provision of unlicensed drinking places). Internationally they have been known to have cooperated with the

Sicilian mafia The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...

in the trafficking of illegal diamonds as well as trafficking Cannabis to Europe.

References

{{Reflist Organizations established in 1971 1971 establishments in South Africa Gangs in South Africa Organisations based in Cape Town