Cape Town - Six people were killed and several others injured in Mfuleni, which has crime experts, community activists and politicians worried.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said detectives were still probing the circumstances surrounding separate incidents which led to the death of six people in Mfuleni on Sunday evening.
Traut said a 72-hour Activation Plan has been implemented to apprehend those responsible.
He said two men aged 32 and 39 and one of an unknown age were shot and killed in Iligwa Street, Ext 6, Mfuleni, and a fourth victim sustained a gunshot wound and was hospitalised. He said four suspects fled.
Traut said at about 6.30pm on Sunday, a 29-year-old man was also shot and killed in a tavern in Shire Street, Ext 6, by unknown suspects who were yet to be arrested.
He said after an hour, two men aged 26 and 30 were also shot and killed at Bosasa, Mfuleni, by unknown suspects. One victim was discovered in the driver’s seat of an Avanza, and the other one outside the vehicle.
“It’s too soon to speculate on the motives for the murders at this stage and all possibilities are being investigated,“ Traut said.
A family member of one of the dead men, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said the violence stemmed from a man who allegedly “disturbed” some people who were enjoying themselves.
“When the owner of the shebeen tried to talk to the person, he was violent and the owner noted that he had a gun, and he took and kept the gun for safety, however, the person went out and came back with his friends to shoot at people.”
On Monday last week, a case of murder was opened after a 26-year-old man was shot and killed in Luntu street, Mfuleni.
Criminologist at Stellenbosch University’s political science department, Guy Lamb, said these sorts of shootings had been happening for years, with the key problems being violence, tensions or conflicts between different gangs or splinter groups.
Lamb said the other type of shootings experienced involved the minibus taxi industry.
"We also see these happening between organised criminal groups at a local level using violence to intimidate people to support them, pay them protection money, eliminate competition or political rivals."
He said there were different forms of such violence, and in the Western Cape, they have to do with conflicts between gangs or control over territory, or protection money.
"We are unlikely to see anything changing in the near future on these issues, because there is still fairly extensive availability of firearms on the streets," said Lamb.
Mfuleni Community Police Forum chairperson Anthony Parisha said they visited the families soon after the incidents occurred. He said the families were devastated and shocked, with a lot of questions.
ANC provincial spokesperson for community safety, Mesuli Kama, said the police and relevant authorities must stamp their authority and take over the streets, and expedite the setting up of the task teams promised last year to address the issue.
"We also call on the Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz to deploy and station hundreds of law enforcement officers to be force multipliers in Mfuleni, in the same way that he did in Bonteheuwel and Hanover Park to restore peace and stability," Kama said.
Fritz said in February last year they deployed approximately 500 law enforcement officers to assist in crime fighting interventions. In October 2020, they then redeployed those officers to communities such as Delft, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Bishop Lavis and Philippi, including Hanover Park.
"This month, we deployed a new tranche to Mitchells Plain. By the end of the year, we will deploy our next cohort of law enforcement officers to communities including Mfuleni," said Fritz.
Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is urged to contact the Crime Stop number 08600 10111 or use the MySAPSApp.
Cape Argus