Cape Town - Three suspected hitmen are expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today after they were arrested at the weekend in a local neighbourhood notorious for drug turf wars.
According to KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the three suspects boarded a bus from Bellville to Durban last week.
SABC news reported that police arrested the men, aged 19, 23 and 56, after receiving information about possible stolen vehicles spotted at a lodge in Sydenham.
According to Mkhwanazi, when police arrived at the lodge they found two vehicles recently hijacked in Durban. The men were also found in possession of several illegal firearms, ammunition and bulletproof vests.
“We believe they are gangsters from Cape Town because they’ve got (a) lot of tattoos and they say they are coming from Delft in Cape Town. They claim that they came here on Thursday,” said Mkhwanazi.
During questioning by Durban detectives, the three suspects refused to disclose the source or origin of the firearms in their possession, according to his statement.
SAPS spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said police found four firearms, nine fully loaded magazines, eight bullet-resistant vests and an empty rifle bag.
The suspects were arrested and police were investigating the circumstances surrounding their presence in the area. The trio will also appear in court once they have been processed.
The Durban suburb of Sydenham is predominantly known for persistent drug turf wars.
According to Dominic Emmanuel, chairperson of the Sherwood and Sydenham community policing forum, he believed the suspects were out to commit a crime in the area.
“We assume that they were here for a drive-by shooting, it can’t be anything else. There is still a rifle outstanding, which is a great deal of concern, and the vehicles that they were arrested with were taken in a hijacking a month ago. That is another concern. Are they working with a hijacking syndicate?” Emmanuel said.
“They were definitely sent here to do a job, but fortunately it worked out in our favour.”
The suspects booked into the lodge on December 6 and were supposed to check out today. Emmanuel said the community was concerned that Cape Town gangsters were increasingly coming into the area.
“It’s a serious concern but they don’t only come to shoot innocents, they come and take out the opposition. It’s holiday time now and most kids are at home, so there’s a risk of getting caught in a crossfire,” he said.
The community of Sydenham has also been fairly quiet in recent months following a deadly drug war that broke out between gangs occupying Sydenham Heights flats earlier this year.
It was revealed by community leaders that an alleged gang boss had imported gangsters from Cape Town to handle the lucrative illicit drug trade.
In 2021, one of Cape Town’s oldest street gangs, the Hard Livings, set up base in the Durban community where they launched a full-scale drug war on a local gang that has resulted in several deadly shootings.
Emmanuel said most of the alleged drug lords who used to import the Cape reinforcements have left the area.
Sydenham isn’t the only area where Cape Town gangs branched out, as many of them were active in Wentworth and some moved up to areas like Westbury in Johannesburg.
Emmanuel continued: “In Wentworth and Newlands there is still a major problem, this gang of guys were probably going to go to one of those areas.”