Squeezed in between an abandoned train track and the N1 highway into Cape Town sits the town of Kraaifontein. The streets all have a familiar feel.
On a good day, like Friday afternoon, children hang around on the sidewalks, throwing marbles and enjoying running races down the main drag. Not even the small funeral at the end of the road detracts from their innocent fun.
On a bad day, the same children are running for cover from shootings. Look a little closer and you see where local gangs have tagged electricity boxes with spray paint. The Party Kids. The Mongrels. The more sinister looking individuals hang out on the opposing street corners.
Cheslin Kolbe had to overcome a childhood in a South African town full of guns and gangs
The rugby star is a beacon of hope to children in the area after lifting the World Cup in 2019
There is one faint glimmer of hope here: it is the childhood home of Cheslin Kolbe. His parents, Millicent and Andrew, have lived in the same house for the last 25 years.
A basic, single story home that they bought off the government for 35,000 rand. 'Kolbe fans! Kolbe fans!' shout the kids as the proud parents step outside their front door to have their photo taken.
'There's a whole lot of crime here,' explains Andrew. 'The next street is worse. It's just a drive around the corner but I don't want you to go there. There are illegal guns. It's gangsterism. Youngsters shoot each other because of territory. Drugs are involved.
'You get crime every day. Day and night. You can't trust people. Shootings happen every week. You hear them. Every weekend. It's not men... it's boys who are meant to be in school. 13 or 14 years old.
'They buy them a nice pair of Nikes, give them a gun and say ''Here you go''. No training. Nothing. It's sad. Innocent people get hurt. For me, it's just work, home, work, home. We only really go out of the house if we must go out.'
Kolbe's parents Millicent and Andrew spoke of the challenges their son had to overcome
Andrew works in a nearby workshop for vehicle parts. He has had the same job for 29 years. Millicent is a retired clothing warehouse worker.
'I would say 95 per cent of the people are unemployed,' he says. 'Drive around and most people are sitting around outside. At the moment, it is difficult for people to get into work because there is a war between the taxi bus groups. There are two groups, Cata and Codeta, and they are shooting each other. If one taxi driver goes into the other area then it becomes war.
'There are no trains running now. People have stolen the train lines. Squatters are building shacks on the railway line and saying: ''If you want to remove me, build me a house''. If the buses run, people burn the buses out.
'You've got all these gangs. They throw stones at each other from different ends of the street. After the stones comes gun shots. Most of Cheslin's friends became gangsters.
'In my house, it was very simple: my house, my rules. If you don't obey to my rules then sorry my friend you find your own place to stay.
'Thank God we brought up Cheslin and his sister the way we did because it was not easy. I tell these youngsters: ''Cheslin could easily have chosen this route of gangsterism but he didn't''. Now look at him.'
Most of Kolbe's childhood friends ended in gangs and one was shot dead just two years ago
In the distance, Table Mountain offers a stunning backdrop. A beautiful country with an ugly underbelly. Andrew does
