Gunmen opened fire on a crowd of mourners at the funeral of a prominent Americans gang member in Ottery, Cape Town, wounding two people and leaving terrified funeral-goers running for their lives.
Moments later, the police’s flying squad arrested four women, who had attended yesterday’s funeral, in a black Mercedes Benz after they were found in possession of two firearms suspected of having been used in the attack.
A 65-year-old Mowbray woman was wounded in the arm and a 21-year-old Kraaifontein man was injured in the back, police spokesman Warrant Officer November Filander said yesterday. Both were taken to hospital.
They were attending the funeral of Peter Meyer, known as Pienkie, who had been shot dead in Manenberg Avenue as he was about to get into a taxi on Tuesday.
Yesterday after Meyer’s coffin was lowered into the grave and as mourners started to disperse, two unknown attackers opened fire.
“The suspects who opened fire at the funeral escaped in a taxi. No police members were wounded and no shots were fired at members,” Filander said.
Regarding the arrest of the four women, Filander said: “Police apprehended the four females as they were driving along Strandfontein Road in Grassy Park, following the shooting at the cemetery.”
He added that police also seized two firearms, one with the serial number filed off and the other earlier reported stolen in Grassy Park.
Filander said an investigation was under way.
A funeral-goer who did not want to be named said the shooters were members of the Ghetto Kids and claimed that the taxi had dropped them in Hanover Park.
Gang violence in Manenberg recently flared up again as the war between the Americans and the Ghetto Kids continued to spread like a wildfire across the Cape Flats.
According to locals, the renewed attacks started after the release of two Ghetto Kids members who had been in jail for the past two years on attempted murder charges.
Community Safety MEC Dan Plato said the gangsters were becoming more daring in their attacks.
“It’s shocking that even mourners are now attacked as they pay their last respects at a funeral service. This clearly shows that these criminals have no respect,” he said.
Plato again questioned the police’s method of tackling gang violence and said that, to date, it has not been working.
“We need a no-nonsense approach and specialised units are the only way to clamp down on these gangsters.”
Meanwhile, in another gang-related shooting incident yesterday, a 12-year-old boy and 20-year-old man were wounded during a gun battle in the streets of Lavender Hill.
Filander said police arrested two suspects shortly after the incident. They were found in possession of an unlicensed firearm. He added that the suspects were expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow. - Sunday Argus