CAPE TOWN – Preston’s new face mask is emblazoned with the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag. While protecting him from the coronavirus, it would normally also put him in danger in Manenberg, one of a number of violent and poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Cape Town known as the Cape Flats.
The mask's colors identify Preston as a member of the Americans, a criminal gang usually unwelcome on the turf of the rival Hard Livings gang. “They’d shoot me," the 35-year-old says with what appears to be a smile, his eyes crinkling.
But today, he's working side-by-side with other notorious gang members to deliver bread, flour and vegetables to poor families who are struggling during South Africa's coronavirus lockdown, which has closed