Community Solutions for Community Problems: Reflections on a Civic Organisation Colloquium for Resolving Gangsterism in the Northern Areas of Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Overall, the manuscript does a good job exploring the issues around the very specific topic of results of the colloquium on resolving gangsterism. It targets the discussions had around this topic and potential future policies and changes to deal with the gang problems. Since the study is very specific, my comments are more focused on how to make the take aways clearer for a broader audience. One area of improvement is the definitions of gangsterism that is used throughout the manuscript. This detail would help researchers better understand how or if the findings from this study/ colloquium can be used in a broader context. Having clear definitions will help broaden the scope of the impact of this study. Being clearer about the gang problem, it's prevalence, proliferation/ migration, or proportion of violent crime would help contextualize the issue. As for the second part of the manuscript, there is a solid amount of literature to help frame things like mitigating risk factors for gang joining, community interventions, and institutional resources. This also includes the research on early interventions, sports, and churches in the literature that could be wrapped in to make more complete recommendations or paths forward to deal with these gang issues.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1 Social Sciences

Please see below the revisions made to the manuscript as recommended:

1. Definitions of gangsterism - some definitions of gangsterism are included in section 2 (highlighted in yellow)
2. Clarity on extent of the gang problem - see highlighted sections in the Introduction and section 2 (lines 117 - 125). 

Reviewer 2 Report

See attached document.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2 Social Sciences

Please see below the revisions made to the manuscript as per the identified recommendations:

1. Expansion on literature review - additional literature on community development theory is included (highlighted in red)
2. Expansion on implications - an explanation is provided (highlighted in red) on how the combination of PAR, with other community development approaches could assist the implementation of the recommendations discussed.