International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 55

International Journal on Criminology
The criteria for recruitment have also evolved according to the intensity with
which groups have been repressed. Nuestra Familia, which originally recruited its
members openly and carried out its activity in prisons conspicuously, has been confronted
with active federal prosecutions, threatening its survival.
Membership may also be based on a community of skills or focus of interest. The
Number gangs in South Africa are not based on ethnic criteria, but are distinguished by
their purpose, which others must respect. The 28s, for example, protect and organize the
“camp” and manage the wyfies who must perform the “housework”; its combat units “use
blood and poison” The 26s “find money, and steal money with patience and cunning.”
The 27s “enforce the codes.”
The Big 5 “cooperates with the authorities to try to obtain maximum benefits”
while the prime purpose of the Airforce is to organize collective escapes. Two prison
gangs stand out for their “hours of business,” based on tradition: The 28s, the “men of
the night” are symbolized by a setting sun, while the 26s operate by day and “shall never
draw blood after nightfall” except in self-defense. Their symbol is a rising sun.
Despite these differences, the Number cooperate in certain tasks. Among the
most important are:
Education, for members to acquire the knowledge, experience and equipment
required to adapt to their prescribed roles, and to progress in the hierarchy of their gang;
Security: by which gangs mean the protection of their members against outside
danger. Members are prepared to defend the territory of their gang with their lives if
necessary. Many inmates join the first gang that promises them security;
The satisfaction of physical, psychological and social needs: the Number work
to obtain favorable positions within the prison in order to acquire and store desired
products such as food, tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. Gangs also provide their members
with camaraderie, status, protection and, in the case of the 28s, homosexual relations.
These prison gangs recruit from newcomers by entrapment or other forms of
coercion, with an eye on inmates with desired qualities or skills. 141 Not belonging to a
gang exposes a prisoner to beatings, rape or stabbing.
B - Loyalty
Loyalty to the group is expressed almost everywhere by the formula “Blood in,
Blood out.” The conditions for entry are bloodshed or killing. Membership is for
life. 142 Any betrayal, or any attempt to quit the gang, lead to the only penalty in
force in most criminal organizations, which is death. 143
141
Haysom, Towards an Understanding of Prison Gangs, 30. He states that while membership is
“voluntary,” some join the gang because they have been raped and prostituted, or expressly to escape
this fate...
142
Venter, Z. Just get it over with and give me my life, November, http://www.iol.co.za/news/southafrica/just-get-it-over-with-and-give-me-life-1.31222.
143
The “Constitution” of Nuestra Familia, Article 2, paragraph 5, states that “... the death penalty will
be automatic for any familiano who betrays, shows cowardice or deserts.” Cited in the indictment of
Nuestra Familia members, April 13, 2001.
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