Cape Town - Eight people, including a mother and her daughter, were reported killed in separate incidents across Cape Town in 24 hours.
On Wednesday organised crime detectives were combing the scene of yet another mass shooting in Site B, Khayelitsha after four men were shot and killed inside a local spaza shop on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said reports from the scene indicated that unknown assailants entered the Madiba supermarket in R588 Sulani Drive, Site B, and fired several shots at 7pm.
“The victims were shot inside the shop, and three died at the scene, while a fourth victim, who was seriously injured, was transported to a medical facility for treatment. He later died in hospital,” Potelwa said.
Just a few hours before the shooting in Site B, detectives were called to the scene of a double homicide in Kuyasa, Khayelitsha, where two women were shot and killed on Monday evening by unknown men.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said: “Two women aged 66 and 51 years old were shot and fatally wounded. Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation, and the motive for the shooting is yet to be established.”
Neighbours claim that the gunmen barged into the victims’ home at 11pm, asking for one of the victim’s son.
“He wasn’t home, so they instead shot his mother and sister, killing them before leaving. The son returned home this morning (Tuesday), but he left after a short while with a bag of clothes,” a neighbour said.
Meanwhile, in Steenberg, police are investigating a double murder case after two men aged 23 and 28 were gunned down on the corner of Symphony Avenue and Cradock roads.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said: “Initial reports indicate that the victims were standing on the corner when they were approached by an unknown suspect who shot them. Both victims were declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.”
A witness said that the victims, who were not involved with gangsters, were caught in the middle of gunfire when rival gangs began shooting at each other just before 8am yesterday.
She said: “They shot and killed innocent people. I know one of the victims, he lives across from here. He was going to the shop at the time. Police here have failed the community. They came almost thirty minutes after the shooting even though the station is within walking distance.”
“I can’t believe what happened at the same time I expected it because they shoot almost every day, mind you, this is an intersection most school children use when going to and from school. They could have been caught in this mess today.”
Community safety ambassadors from Hillview, Steenberg, Lavender Hill and Montague Park, Sherridon and Cornistone Park said that since the redeployment of Leap officers from the community to other areas, violence in the area had flared up.
They said residents, despite many attempts to address the violence, were failing on their own and needed police to step in and support them by deploying more resources to the Cape Flats, where gang violence is rife.
Commenting on the multiple murders, Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC Reagan Allen said the ongoing mass shootings were a clear failure of crime intelligence, which required urgent attention.
“Since March 26, people have been killed in mass shootings in Khayelitsha. Its police resident ratio is unacceptable. You get one officer for every 628 residents.
“The provincial average is 1:520. We’ve seen in the latest crime stats how the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers are making a dent in the murder rate,” he said.
Allen said the province would be utilising its safety dashboard which clusters incidents down to police precinct level and enables role players to deploy resources according to the data and ensure that the focus is on the generators of violent crimes, particularly murder.
“The City’s Safety and Security Directorate is also working on adding capacity to its Strategic information management unit (SIMS) because intelligence-driven policing is and should always be a priority.”