Cape Town - One of Cape Town’s top policemen has vowed to hunt down the killers of an elderly Cape Town woman who was gunned down, apparently for being the mother of a police detective.
And the detective’s brother lies critically injured after the hitmen mistook him for his brother.
Shamiela Eksteen, 71, had been at home at 3 Tagus Street, near Vygieskraal Road in the west of Manenberg, when the gunmen burst through her front door at about 7pm on Monday.
The house is also home to her two sons, Lutfie Eksteen, a police detective with Operation Combat, which focuses on gangs and drugs, and his elder brother Mansoor, 44.
The men forced their way into the house, which is on the bottom floor of a two-storey maisonette. The gunmen shot the elder son in the chest, and the elderly mother through her side.
On Tuesday, the family said they had asked General Jeremy Vearey, head of the police’s Operation Combat, and the detective’s superior, to serve as family spokesman.
Vearey said: “We are investigating information that they came for our police member, that this was an attempt to target him, but that his brother was mistaken for him, and was shot in the process.”
Eksteen was buried late on Tuesday, within 24 hours of her death, in accordance with Muslim custom.
“We’d like to thank the community of Manenberg for their support, and their information which is guiding investigations,” said Vearey.
“We have to interrogate every single gang member we come across, and will not stop until we get to the truth.”
This intensive search had continued through Monday night, and so far had covered the whole of Manenberg and parts of Hanover Park.
“It was really brutal – a cowardly, brutal act, to invade a home like that.
“But we’re going to hunt them down,” Vearey vowed. “We would appeal to them: we’re going to get you, so it would be in your best interests to hand yourselves in as soon as possible, with the least possible conflict.”
Operation Combat specifically takes the
fight to violent gangs and drug-dealers.
The family formally requested the media to offer them privacy on Tuesday, as they buried their family member, and because the case was “sensitive”, and because the elder brother was still in a “critical but stable” condition in hospital.
On Tuesday night, Dan Plato, Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, expressed his outrage and urged the police to stand tall.
“I condemn in the strongest possible manner the brutal and savage attack on the family residence of a member of the South African Police Service’s Operation Combat anti-gang and drug unit.
“The cold-blooded attack has fatally wounded the 71-year-old mother and injured the 44-year-old brother of Operation Combat officer, Constable Lutfie Eksteen.
“My sincerest condolences to Constable Eksteen, the extended family, colleagues and friends for their loss and trauma experienced.
“We cannot allow such a brazen and heinous attack to deter the SAPS to act against unscrupulous criminals, murderers, gang bosses or druglords.”
Plato urged police to remain strong, urging the community of Manenberg “to work with the police in bringing the offenders to task and offer the support of the Western Cape Department of Community Safety in ensuring that those responsible face their full day in court”.
Cape Argus