Cape Town - Community Policing Forums (CPFs) in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain have called on law enforcement officers and the police to conduct regular patrols along Baden Powell Drive following the discovery of yet another body.
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said the body of a woman, believed to be between 25 and 30 years old and with gunshot wounds to the head and body was found on Monday.
“She was wearing grey shorts with brown stockings underneath, white T-shirt and black/ yellow track top.”
Rwexana said that hours after the discovery of the woman’s body, a 30-year-old man was also found with a gunshot wound to the head – also along Baden Powell Drive, Khayelitsha. He was rushed to hospital.
The incidents came just over two weeks after the police also discovered the decomposing bodies of a woman and a man in the bushes on Baden Powell Drive, Mitchells Plain, on August 26.
Khayelitsha CPF cluster chairperson Francina Lukas said this was becoming a “gruesome trend”.
“I think Baden Powell has become a dumping ground and that people are murdered elsewhere. Law enforcement officials from the City of Cape Town and SAPS must conduct more regular patrols in the area which has become a hotspot,” she said.
Mitchells Plain CPF chairperson Abie Isaacs said it has also noted with concern that the stretch of the road has become an area where bodies were being dumped. “We are also condemning it in the strongest term because these people are committing crimes outside our police precinct and dumping them in our areas. We simply call on the three spheres of government and organisations with similar interest to come and have a comprehensive approach and share how we can best deal with this problem that has been persisting over the years.
“However, within the last four months there has been a massive increase of people dumping bodies on that stretch of the road,” he said.
Isaacs said the area had become extremely dangerous and appealed to people who frequently travel on the road, especially at night, to be cautious and take cognisance of their surroundings.
Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said he will request a report from the provincial commissioner in terms of Section 19(4) of the Western Cape Community Safety Act which relates to such incidents and SAPS plan to address this pattern.
Anyone with information can contact Captain Puren at 079 880 9872, Crime Stop 08600 10111 or their nearest police station.
Cape Argus