- Six people were killed, and another three left wounded in a bloody weekend in the Manenber precinct in Cape Town.
- “All hell broke loose” with warring gangs opening fire on one another.
- Tensions had been running high for a number of weeks, said officials, and reached a boiling point over the weekend.
- Video footage of the shootings first came to light around the same time the National Police Minister Bheki Cele was in Hanover Park launching the police’s national festive season safety operations.
Manenberg
residents in some pockets of the area are fearing for their lives as “all hell
broke loose” with warring gangs opening fire on one another.
This
as six people were killed, and another three left wounded in a bloody weekend
in the precinct.
Tensions
had been running high for a number of weeks, said officials, and reached a
boiling point over the weekend.
Video
footage of the shootings first came to light last week, around the same time
the National Police Minister Bheki Cele was in Hanover Park launching the
police’s national festive season safety operations.
On
Saturday 14 October gang violence was at a high as Manenberg residents were
trapped in their homes with The Americans, Clever kids and Hard Livings
gangs opening indiscriminate gunfire on one another, starting a gang conflict
that left three people dead and three seriously wounded.
By
Monday six murders were opened for investigation, with three additional
attempted murders.
“At
02:00 a woman was shot and killed in Greatfish Road, then all hell broke loose
as the community was awoken by gunfire,” says Manenberg police spokesperson
Capt Ian Bennett.
“At
05:45 a 30-year-old man was gunned down and killed in Scheldt Road , and a
46-year-old woman and 40-year-old man were injured. It is alleged members of an
opposing gang attacked the house in search of their intended target; as he was
not there they shot up the house injuring the occupants.”
By
06:00 a 26-year-old man was left dead in Sabie Road after sustaining a gunshot
wound to his upper body, and at 06:45 a 59-year-old woman was caught in the
crossfire as she went to see what was happening. She was shot in the upper leg.
“During
this gang conflict two men were taken to the Heideveld Emergency Medical
Facility, where one man succumbed to his fatal gunshot wounds,” Bennett
said. “The other man remains in critical condition.”
Residents
who reached out to People’s Post say they are still held hostage in their
homes unable to go to work or send their children to school.
“We
cannot move or we risk dying,” one mother said. “There is nothing we
can do. We must stay in our houses. This is very bad. You hear gunshots any
time and must run for cover.”
Vernon
Visagie, Community Police Forum chair confirmed the area remained
volatile. Police are calling on anyone with information on these murders
and attempted murders to call Manenberg Police 0216999400 or crime stop
0860010111.
