- Five people were killed in a suspected extortion-related shooting at Madikizela informal settlement in Mfuleni.
- One attacker used an automatic rifle, and another wielded a handgun to shoot everyone in a shack, including a man asleep in his room.
- Police are investigating the connection between the victims’ pending cases and the attackers’ motives.
Mfuleni officers were investigating multiple murder cases following the killing of five people at Madikizela informal settlement in the area on Sunday 1 December.
The incident occurred around 13:30.P rovincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembisile Patekile visited the scene on Monday 2 December to assess it.
He said it is suspected the shooting is extortion-related.
“We have heard that two people came into the shack where the deceased were seated,” he related.
“One of the culprits was carrying an automatic rifle and another a handgun. They shot and killed everyone at the scene. It appears the shack owner, who is among the deceased, had a pending rape case against him. Two of the deceased also had drug-related cases pending since 2017.”
Patekile said it is alleged the culprits were hunting another suspect who had once lived in the shack and was allegedly an extortion kingpin in the area.A distraught, grief-stricken mother of one of the deceased described her son as a people’s person.
“I’m still traumatised by the incident. My son was in his room sleeping when he was shot. His friends were sitting in the yard smoking hookah pipe.”
She said she saw the culprits passing right next to her as she was busy braaing meat a few metres from her son’s shack.
“A few minutes later I heard gunshots coming from my son’s shack. I ran to take cover and the shots continued after the culprits had left. There were more than 20 gunshots. There were more than five bullet holes in the door and others in the wall.”
What traumatised the mother most was that her son was shot in his sleep.
