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.
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 industries and left many in Manenberg without work.
Preston stands in a courtyard with the other gang members amid an unlikely truce, bowing his head as Danny, a senior member of the Hard Livings, says a prayer.
Manenberg resident Cristal van Rensburg says two cousins were killed by gang members, with one shot 30 times in the face and chest.
