CAPE TOWN – National chairperson of the portfolio committee on policing, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, in a statement on Tuesday has condemned the massacre in Gugulethu, Cape Town.
Joemat-Pettersson said the killing of eight people and the injury of one other was ‘barbaric’.
The shooting incident occurred on Monday when unknown gunmen opened fired on nine people, seven people were declared dead, while the eighth victim died in Groote Schuur Hospital.
Joemat-Pettersson has called on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators of this ‘heinous crime’ to book.
“The killings are concerning in the context of the worrying upward trend in murders in general in the country. Also, the shooting follows similar killings of six people in Khayelitsha in September, five people in Joe Slovo in October and the killing of seven people in Philippi in July,” she said.
Joemat-Pettersson was adamant in the emphasis of the importance of a collaboration between communities and the police in order to fight the scourge of crime.
She said the current situation on the Cape Flats required all stakeholders to take crime head-on. To this end she has urged members of the SAPS and the specialised Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) to strategise on ways to prevent attacks as the festive season draws closer.
“The proliferation of illegal firearms in our streets is also an issue of concern and the SAPS must come up with concrete strategies in completely dealing with this matter,” Joemat-Pettersson said.
She says the committee will be engaging with senior SAPS management on both a provincial and national level to find a way in fighting the scourge of violence.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay