Vigilante groups arose in South Africa following the collapse of Apartheid, which brought about increases in crime.  Between 1990 and 1996, rapes reportedly went up by 81 percent, serious assault 38 percent, vehicle theft 43 percent, and murder 26 percent.  At the time of its founding, PAGAD sought harsher sentences for criminals, especially drug lords, and aimed to work with the government to curb crime.  Dissatisfied with the results of their actions, PAGAD explains that it “changed its strategy to one of confrontation, not with the government or the police, but with the drug merchants and gangsters themselves.”  Specifically, PAGAD confronted criminals with ultimatums that, if not adhered to, would end with violence and murder.

PAGAD shares ties with Qibla, a militant Shiite fundamentalist group that emerged in South Africa in the 1980s.  Qibla was inspired by the 1979 Iranian revolution, and sought to transform South Africa into a Muslim state, adopting the slogan, “One solution: Islamic revolution.”  The organization serves as an umbrella for hundreds of other Muslim groups, and is suspected to have used PAGAD to promote its own aims.  Qibla is led by Achmat Cassiem, an influential Muslim religious figure, whose philosophies have been used by PAGAD’s leaders.  Cassiem believes that politics cannot be separated from religion, and that Muslims have a responsibility to oppose a non-Muslim state, preaching martyrdom and revolution.  “Fighting injustice,” he says, “is as important to Muslims as fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.”

In 1996, a split arose within PAGAD as the result of a power struggle between the group’s moderate leaders, Nadthmie Edries, Farouk Jaffer, and Ali “Phantom” Parker, and Qibla extremists.  Edries, Jaffer, and Parker, opposed the Qibla faction, claiming its agenda was more anti-state than anti-crime.  The three leaders advocated a more community-based approach using constructive, non-violent solutions to crime rather than Qibla’s more jihadist tendencies.  The militant Qibla faction amassed under the leadership of Abdus Salaam Ebrahim, who advocated confronting gangsters and drug dealers in a violent manner.  This faction would soon dictate PAGAD’s Islamic objectives and violent tendencies.

Between 1996 and 2000, 24 gang lords were murdered in the Cape Town region, pushing dealers out of Cape Flats to smaller towns.  Initially, PAGAD received quiet support from the South African government, because of its perceived ability to crack down on drug dealers better than police.  But tolerance waned in early 1997, when PAGAD-incited violence began taking the form of urban terrorism, leading to the deaths of innocent bystanders.  The national police commissioner, Zoli Lavisa, declared, “PAGAD is now firmly part of the crime problem, not part of the solution.”

Public support followed a similar trend.  PAGAD may have garnered a membership in the tens of thousands at the group’s peak in early late 1996.  Between 2,000 and 5,000 members appeared at rallies, with many others supporting the group passively, based on principle.  But membership rally participation levels began to decline by 1998, perhaps because of the organization’s shift toward violent and illegal activities.

From July 1996 to December 1997, PAGAD is alleged to have initiated 222 acts of violence against drug dealers and their property, involving attacks with conventional weapons and explosives, often pipe bombs.  In 1997, PAGAD’s G-force began targeting anti-Qibla Muslims.  In 1998, academics and clerics critical of the G-force were also targeted.  In 1999, bombings linked to PAGAD decreased, but the targeting of public places, police and government buildings, and American businesses continued.  These included the 1998 bombing of a South African Planet Hollywood restaurant.  Car bombs replaced pipe bombs, effectively injuring several more people with each attack.

Despite the South African police force’s supposed failure in putting a stop to crime rate in the Cape Town region, it has captured members of PAGAD engaging in illegal activities.  As of January 2000, 26 PAGAD members sat in jail without bail, with 117 charged for murder, attempted murder, or the illegal possession of firearms and explosives.  None of those captured, however, were charged with bombings, casting doubt over the PAGAD’s suspected bomb campaigns.  The PAGAD’s leadership has always denied bombing charges.

In September 2000, magistrate Pieter Theron, who was presiding in a case involving PAGAD members, was murdered in a drive-by shooting.  South African Justice Minister Penuell Maduna blamed PAGAD for Theron’s murder, saying that it signaled a terror campaign “against the state.”  Several witnesses were also murdered in related cases.

In March 2002, four current or former members of PAGAD were acquitted of the murder of gangster Rashaad Staggie in 1996 due to lack of evidence, effectively marking the end of South Africa’s five year quest to achieve a conviction for Staggie’s murder.  Ebrahim however, was found guilty of public violence and sentenced to seven years in prison, where he sits today.