Two Tafelsig titans: Aunty Connie and Aunty Maria's fight for a safer community

They are known across Tafelsig as Aunty Maria and Aunty Connie, two mothers whose hearts have always belonged to their community.

Everything they do is rooted in a deep, enduring care for the people around them. Their story stretches across decades of change, loss, struggle, and persistent hope.

Now in their seventies, they have lived through the waves of gangsterism that swept through Mitchell’s Plain, yet they continue to walk the streets they love, fiercely protecting and nurturing the place they call home ("Women reaching out" Plainsman September 4 2024).

For community activist Maria Weavers, Tafelsig has been home for 43 years. She moved there in 1982, already familiar with the weight of gangsterism from her childhood in Manenberg, where community peacemakers spoke to gangsters to keep the peace.

When she arrived, violence was already part of daily life, and she joined the Airwolf Neighbourhood Watch without hesitation in the 80s. Over the years, the multiple watch structures merged into what is now known as Tafelsig West Neighbourhood Watch.

In 1985, when Yellowwood Primary School was being built, she helped bring parents and community members together to decide on its name.

She nominated “Yellowwood,” and the name stuck. She remains involved with the school for decades, watching generations of children grow up in Tafelsig. In 2002, without fully knowing how it came to be, she was nominated by former ward councillor Charlotte Williams to serve as a councillor.

She was elected and served for more than 14 years across multiple wards, retiring only at 65. But stepping down from official roles did not mean stepping away from her community.

In 1996, she and her husband bought their home and opened Groenweivelde Shelter, welcoming patients from Lentegeur and Westlake Hospitals into their home. By 2004, she worked to reunite many of them with their families.

In 2016, after retiring from council work, she founded Women of Strength (Yes We Can). The group started with 20 women and eventually became three, yet she continued.

Prayer has always been part of her fight against gang violence. She remembers the days when gangsters respected the elders, giving warnings before shooting.

Today, drive-by shootings have replaced warnings, and younger gang members show no respect. Still, she walks, she talks, she prays, and she faces gang leaders when she must.

“When I moved in here, I was a crime fighter. I will fight until I can’t anymore,” she said.

Community activist part of many crime organisations, Charmaine Adams, affectionately known as Aunty Connie, tells a story that runs parallel with Aunty Maria.

She first lived in Woodlands, caught between two gangs, before moving to Tafelsig in the early 90s. Fresh from the hospital after a haemorrhage, she arrived in a two-year-old neighbourhood that residents called the Gamadoelas for its chaos.

Her freestanding house was a safe space for her five children, soon six, but the streets outside were alive with danger. Mothers drank from early in the morning while music blasted, and children wandered without supervision.

Connie’s heart went out to them. She began praying for the mothers and soon turned her attention to the children.

She opened a children’s ministry in her dining room. Ninety-nine children showed up on the first day. A Muslim neighbour initially resisted the idea of “Sunday School” but later came to appreciate that something positive was finally happening for the children.

Under Connie’s guidance, children joined netball, soccer, cricket, and dance teams. She took them to the beach, holiday clubs, and tournaments to escape the bullets that sometimes flew from Snowden Street. “I was unctioned to do something for the kids,” she said.

Her work expanded when she met community leaders Mr Bam and Norman Jantjes. Together, they tackled the social challenges that weighed on Tafelsig - HIV, poverty, broken homes - and created programmes for camps, sports, health, and education.

She helped form the first sports council at Swartklip Sports Ground and revived the Dolomites Sports Field, which had long been neglected ("Dolomites field unused and vandalised" Plainsman May 27 2025).

From 2000 to 2013, the community saw a rare period of peace, with gangs moving between areas without conflict, thanks to strong partnerships with officers like Brigadier Burger.

In 2013, killings returned, and Connie helped establish the Penguins Neighbourhood Watch. For a time, it felt like a family; members could move safely through the community, working together and holding each other accountable.

But as years passed, conflict and dishonesty crept in, and younger gangsters brought unpredictability that made the streets unsafe once more. Still, she persists, running health committees, nutrition programmes, clothing drives, and outreach events.

Even when halls were vandalised, she continued. She fought to keep children off the streets, ensuring they stayed in school, and she warned youth about the lure of gangs and gambling.

Both women see how much Tafelsig has changed. Gangsters are younger, and children join gangs before they can even spell their names. Many parents no longer guide their children, leaving grandmothers to take their place.

Shebeens sit next to homes, exposing children to alcohol and drugs. Yet Maria and Connie refuse to give in. They envision after-school programmes, revived sports codes, law enforcement returning to the streets like they did before, and a united community that stands together as it once did.

They hope to see the partnership they once had with police - men like Colonel Harry Brickles, Captain Ronny Heyns, and Captain Raymond Solomons restored to the same partnership that supported them for decades in fighting crime.

They know the struggle is relentless, but their resolve remains. As long as they can walk and breathe, they will protect their community. They have built safe spaces, mentored generations of children, and created hope in the face of violence and despair. “I will fight crime until I can’t do it anymore,” Maria said.

“I will never be done,” Connie said. “As long as I can walk and breathe, I will do this.”

Two mothers, two grandmothers, two tireless crime fighters. Their bodies may age, but their passion, love, and commitment for Tafelsig remain unwavering. They have carried this community on their shoulders for decades, and they are not ready to let go.