Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Anroux Marais, has welcomed the arrest of two suspects in connection with the recent mass murder in Bishop Lavis.
On Friday, 11 July 2025, at approximately 19:15, gunmen entered a residence in Reenberg Road, Bishop Lavis, opened fire and fatally shot two women and two men aged between 27 and 80 years old. According to preliminary information at the time, two unknown men fled the scene in a VW Polo.
Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) detectives launched an intensive manhunt and their persistence paid off when they tracked down two 23-year-old men connected to the attack.
Marais congratulated the detectives. “Their determination and meticulous investigative work led to this breakthrough. This sends out a clear message to those who think they can carry out these heinous acts with impunity – the law will catch up with you and you will be held accountable,” says Marais.
Blood has been flowing on the Cape recently and the latest shooting is a continuation of a pattern of deadly shootings that have plagued community’s of the Flats the last couple of weeks. A shooting took place in the same street, Reenberg Road, last week where one person was killed and one wounded just over a week ago.
BLCPF condemns killings
The Bishop Lavis Crime Prevention Forum (BLCPF) condemned in the strongest terms the mass shooting. “The killings follows an attempted murder earlier the afternoon not far from there and totally unrelated. The BLCPF sends our condolences to the families and friends of the deceased and we call on the police to increase visibility and to come forward with a plan that will deal with the gang war flare-up currently in the Bishop Lavis Precinct. We further reiterate our call on police management to bring back the two well decorated and experienced officers they transferred from Bishop Lavis last year in September or replace them with equally competent officers. We as community are asking again, is the suffering of our community under violent crime not enough to warrant the attention and intervention of those who are mandated to keep the community safe,” says Graham Lindhorst, chair of the BLCPF.
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