Cape Town - Two brothers were among the six people killed in separate shootings in Mfuleni at the weekend.
The brothers and two patrons were at a local tavern when four armed men opened fire at about 1.30pm on Sunday.
A patron who witnessed the shooting said a man had entered the tavern and made silly remarks at people in an attempt to provoke them.
“The man was chased away and taken outside. It was discovered that he had a gun which was confiscated. After that he was allowed to go inside and drink. A few minutes later he came back with three men demanding his gun. They shot the two brothers who died. They were apparently related to the tavern owner. They proceeded to randomly shoot at patrons. Two people were shot, one of them was killed,” he said.
The four men returned to the scene later on and demanded the gun again. When they were informed it was not there they allegedly shot another person, said the patron who asked to remain anonymous.
“The man who was shot when the perpetrators returned was related to the two brothers who were killed earlier on. He came to the area with other family members from Kraaifontein after they heard about the incident,” he said.
Due to fear of reprisal, the family would only confirm that they lost three of their members.
Hours later, in another incident, two men driving a Toyota Avanza were killed in a hail of bullets in Bosasa.
Community leader Nathi Mgxokwana said: “At around 4pm a Toyota Avanza was being chased by a private car all the way from Nyanga until they reached the area. The car stopped in front of the Avanza and started shooting at the men. One of them was shot in the head, the other in the chest, and they took off. A few minutes later we saw the car coming back and shooting them again in the chest and then they fled.”
Mgxokwana said residents doubted the men who were killed were from the area.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut the suspects in both incidents were yet to be arrested.
“Detectives are probing the circumstances surrounding separate incidents which led to the death of multiple people in Mfuleni yesterday (on Monday). Our 72-hour Activation Plan has been implemented to apprehend those responsible.”
Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said he was deeply disturbed by the shootings and welcomed the police activation plan.
Fritz said a provincial Safety Plan which includes law enforcement and violence interventions had been introduced in the hope of halving the murder rate.
Anyone with information about the shootings can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 0860 010111 or SMS Crime Line on 32211.
Political Bureau