Cape Town - Police are investigating the shooting of three people, including a 1-year-old, at a traffic intersection in Lansdowne.
On Wednesday, shortly after 9.30pm, a 23-year-old man was killed and a 25-year-old woman and child were wounded when unknown suspects ambushed their vehicle.
Although circulating messages allege the incident was gang-related and the man who was killed was a former gang leader from Hanover Park, the community’s policing forum (CPF) said it would not comment until the police made arrests.
Hanover Park CPF secretary Cameron Weldon said: “We believe arrests are imminent and want to give police the opportunity to execute them before speaking.”
However, police are mum about any developments in the case. Spokesperson André Traut said police were still searching for the unknown suspect, who opened fire on the victims while their vehicle was stationary at the traffic light intersection.
“The suspect fled with other suspects in a red Opel Corsa, and they are yet to be apprehended. We believe that the incident is gang-related,” he said.
Addressing the concerns of residents, Lansdowne CPF chairperson Rafique Foflonker said such attacks were not common in the area.
“If our assumptions are correct, then this was not an attempted hijacking, not a robbery, not an attack on innocent motorists, not a random act of violence.
“Nevertheless, it is concerning and downright devastating to see this type of violence play out on our streets, in our community. Not to mention the vulnerability of innocent people in the vicinity of the shootings.
“The suspects and victims might have known each other, giving us the impression that this may have been a targeted killing.”
Foflonker asked residents to unite and engage with the legally established safety structures to keep crime out.
Acting Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais said her department was working to ensure the SAPS protected citizens and to hold it accountable should it fail in its mandate.
“This we can do with our oversight mandate and through our Court Watching Briefs to track cases of this nature, to ensure the SAPS applies the due diligence needed to prosecute perpetrators.
“While operational solutions may not bring a permanent change, we need to mobilise our communities through neighbourhood watches, community policing forums, and other community structures,” she said.
Marais said communities could become safe again only if residents started claiming them back by standing together and working with safety partners.