The Elsies River Safety Initiative, a community organisation working to make Elsies River safe for all, is concerned that killings in the suburb show no sign of stopping.

Shootings in Elsies River continued this week after a 30-year-old man was shot in his living room on Tuesday. This followed the killing of a 13-year-old boy on Sunday.

Killings continue unabated

Imraahn Mukkadem of the Elsies River Safety Initiative says they are saddened that the killings continue unabated. “We would like to express our condolences to the family of the slain teenager. We would also like to express our deep concern about the number of young people dying in our suburbs over the last few months. The violence is becoming intolerable,” says Mukkadem.

According to Mukkadem, nothing seems to curb the violence. “We have the police, Law Enforcement and recently the army here, but things are still not improving. We note that the acting police minister, Firoz Cachalia, spoke about a reduction in murders in his latest crime statistics announcement — but in our community there are very few signs of that reduction. We see far too many firearms in our community,” he says.

Appeal for arrests

He appealed to the police and the courts to apprehend and prosecute those responsible for killing children. “We cannot lose our children at the rate we are currently doing. We need help — including from within the community. Residents should use the anonymous tip-off line and tell law enforcement agencies where the gangsters are,” says Mukkadem.

Police say the Tuesday shooting is believed to be gang-related. The victim was found lying on his back with multiple gunshot wounds in the living room, which was also used as a bedroom.

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