Cape Town - Eleven people were shot dead and seven others wounded on Saturday in suspected gang fights over “protection fee”.
Police have since reinforced deployments in the Site B area as organised crime detectives probe the shootings.
A 72-hour activation plan for the mobilisation of resources in search of the gunmen has also been put in place.
Police were now in pursuit of specific leads after first body with several gunshot wounds was found in Banzi Street next to a firearm at 10am On Saturday. Police also found a substantial amount of cash.
“In a second incident that is believed to be a retaliation attack to the first murder, two Somali nationals were shot at at T110 on Saturday afternoon. One died on the scene and the other was seriously wounded and taken to a medical facility. In the RR Section, three other males were shot dead on Saturday afternoon in an incident believed to be linked to the first two,” said police spokesperson Novela Potelwa.
At a spaza shop in Y-Block, two other men were shot dead, one in the yard and another in a vehicle.
“Reports also indicate two other Somali nationals were shot close to a spaza shop in the area. One died on the scene while the other was transported to hospital where he later died. Additional information has since emerged that two other victims of the shooting incidents who were taken to Tygerberg hospital and the Khayelitsha District hospital later died,” said Potelwa.
Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said they were angered by the senseless killings.
He called on all three spheres of government to stop politicising community safety and combine efforts to route out the scourge of extortion gangs in communities.
“The KDF further calls on the three spheres of government as well as businesses to support the first of its kind CCTV technology based "Uyabonwa" project that was designed before the onslaught of COVID-19.
“We call on President Matamela C. Ramaphosa to urgently intervene in the development of the Makhaza police station. This police station was decided upon more than 20 years ago when Mr Leonard Ramatlane (ANC) was still MEC for community safety in the Western Cape,” he said.
Tyhido also called on acting provincial police commissioner Tembinkosi Patekile to address the “racially skewed” allocation of policing resources in the province.
“We call on all community members to remain vigilant and those with any information that can lead to the apprehension and successful conviction of the perpetrators of these heinous killings to contact the police.”
Anyone with information can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 0860010111 or SMS Crime Line on 32211.