DURBAN – An off-duty police officer had to intervene in a shooting in Wentworth this morning between two groups, believed to be gang members.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that there was a shooting incident at 9.15am on Tuesday, between two groups of men on Hime Street.
“An off-duty police officer intervened and the crowd dispersed,” she said.
Gwala said a case of discharging a firearm is being investigated by Wentworth SAPS.
No injuries were reported and no arrests had been made.
Community activist André de Bruin believes that the incident was gang-related.
“I believe it has to do with gangs from the same area. One from upper Hime Street and the other from lower Hime Street,” he said.
De Bruin said the provincial police commissioner and Wentworth SAPs have “failed the Wentworth community”.
“This is not new. Shooting has become a way of life in Wentworth,” he said.
Last week The Mercury’s sister publication the Daily News reported that a Wentworth mother called for an end to gun violence in the south Durban community, after her near-death experience while hanging up her washing.
Lee Anne Samuels said her 8-year-old son was nearby, when a boy approached and fired a gun.
According to the report, one of the residents in the Hime Street flats captured a video on their cellphone of two men firing a gun between the block of flats and then jogging off.
In July last year IOL reported that police vowed to step up patrols and ensure more deployment, following renewed shootings in Wentworth.
At the time, police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said: “Shootings were reported at Wentworth SAPS and some are drug-related.
“Patrols have been increased, with daily deployments of officers. Other law enforcements are also part of the ongoing operations.”
In August, IOL reported that an investigation team was deployed to Wentworth, as well as an additional deployment of a dedicated SAPS organised crime team.
THE MERCURY