Cape Town - The community of Covid-19, Extension 6, informal settlement near Driftsands in Khayelitsha were woken up by the sight of four dead bodies on Thursday after hearing multiple gunshots the previous night.
Neighbours said at about 11pm on Wednesday they heard gunshots, but because there aren’t any streetlights, they didn’t go out, fearing that whoever was shooting might also come for them.
Waking up on Thursday, the residents claimed that they could feel that something was amiss as one of the couples failed to do what was a norm for them – listen to music in the early hours of the day.
Pointing at one of the shacks, a community member said: “The couple who lived over there were a young man and woman, probably not over 30 years. The guy, who we recognise as Rasta, was a sweet guy who never gave us problems. He would normally go out to sell herbs.
“The other couple were also not problematic as they were a bit old, maybe around 50 years. The husband, who’s also a Rasta, was a mechanic who loved to listen to his music and we have never heard them argue with anyone in the area,” said a community member.
Community leader Chris Nogemana said: “I was called by one of the neighbours, asking me if I heard the sound that happened last night. I told her I did but I thought it was a car exhaust as people tend to play around with their cars.
“Following the lead of other commuters, I then came to inspect. Upon my arrival I noticed that the door of that house was wide open and from outside the yard I could see a body lying on the bed.
“In the other shack as well I could see that something had happened as well, because the door was also open.
“This is the first time that we experienced something like this since we arrived here in 2020,” said Chris.
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said: “On Thursday morning, residents of the informal settlement discovered two bodies of a man and a woman with gunshot wounds in a shack and alerted the police. A few metres from the one dwelling, inside another shack, two more bodies of a man and a woman were also found with gunshot wounds.
“The identities of the victims are yet to be determined, with detectives hard at work probing the murders.”
The police have urged anyone with information on the murders to contact them on 0860010111 or via the MySAPS app.