‘Give Us More Guns’: A journey into SA’s dark underbelly

Cindy Van WykWINDHOEKDedicated to “the children caught in the crossfire”, Mark Shaw’s ‘Give Us More Guns: How South Africa’s Gangs Were Armed’ is a remarkable read.Fascinating, intricate and incredibly well researched, Shaw takes the reader on a journey into South Africa’s dark underbelly where senior policemen divert state guns meant to be destroyed and sell them to gang members fighting the bloodiest war the country has ever seen.“It began in 2007 when Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo and his cronies began selling thousands of decommissioned police weapons to gang lords. Prinsloo’s motive: To fund his son’s university fees. The sale of weapons to criminals, which the police service has tried to downplay, has resulted in a killing spree of unprecedented proportions.“Cape Town is now one of the most violent places on earth, and in 2019, the army was called in to patrol gang-infested areas.”The sheer amount of information ‘Give Us More Guns’ contains can be overwhelming, and it’s a book best savoured, but - despite how research-heavy it is - it’s an enjoyable read, with Shaw’s tongue-in-cheek wit showing time and time again.It’s the perfect example of what good research-based writing should be - easy to understand and endlessly gripping -and fans of Jonny Steinberg’s ‘The Number’ will absolutely love it, as I did.RATING: 5/5‘Give Us More Guns’ was longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards 2022 for non-fiction last month. It is available on order at Windhoek Book Den (N$275), and at Exclusive Books (N$297).This review was originally published on Instagram @lovereadingxo.

‘Give Us More Guns’: A journey into SA’s dark underbelly

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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‘Give Us More Guns’: A journey into SA’s dark underbelly

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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