Police are investigating the murder of two men – one a suspected 28’s gang leader – shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Elsies River at the weekend.
Alleged gang leader Joseph Julius and another man were gunned down in front of a hair salon in Matroosfontein. A third man was also injured in the shooting. Police officers found 21 cartridges at the scene.
Provincial police spokesman November Filander said the incident happened around 3pm on Saturday.
The 35-year-old suspected gang leader and two others were sitting outside a hair salon in a parked VW Kombi in Fountain Way, Matroosfontein.
They were approached by two men who had arrived in a white Aveo. The men opened fire on the three and fled.
Witnesses could not say in which direction the gunmen headed. Julius was declared dead at the scene.
“The second victim also passed away shortly after medical help arrived,” Filander said. He has not yet been named.
No arrests have yet been made, Filander said.
Meanwhile, a gang “peace truce” established in Hanover Park two weeks ago remains intact, according to Weldon Cameron, spokesman for the local Community Policing Forum (CPF).
“We haven’t had any (shooting) incidents yet that I am aware of,” Cameron said.
Provincial police communications head Brigadier Novela Potelwa said 100 additional police officers, “over and above the personnel at station level”, have been deployed to tackle gang flare-ups.
She said that the members would conduct foot patrols, cordoned off and searches and other methods of search operations in gang hot spots.
“They are deployed in certain areas as the need arises,” she said. - Cape Argus