Cape Town - The world watched in
horror as youths gathered on a pavement in an Elsies River street were gunned down in a drive-by shooting.
The incident, caught on video, was widely shared on social media this week.
This is happening in our Cape Flats, i thought this only happened in movies pic.twitter.com/H9F3mDLhQj
— ChocolateMoose (@damian9404) October 26, 2017
Twenty-four hours later, a new video surfaced, featuring the same gunshot victims, the same gunman and the same worse-for-wear metallic green VW Golf.
This time, though, the shooter explains that the video was made in an attempt to show the dangers of gangsterism to teenagers on the Cape Flats.
It was all an act.
The entire 1 minute and 49 second clip has gone viral and has been shared on social media tens of thousands of times. Everyone was in on it.
The explanation, noble and true pic.twitter.com/Oc8He0ACaO
— Tumi Sole (@tumisole) October 28, 2017
“This is how we shoot drive-bys. No one died,” explains the lead actor in Afrikaans.
“It was a play for youngsters who are considering gangsterism, it’s not worth it.
“We just wanted to show how quickly you could die.”
It was initially thought that the incident was part of an ongoing gang war in the area.
At the time, SAPS confirmed that no shooting incident in the area had been reported. And now, of course, it all makes sense.
Police spokesperson André Traut confirmed to Weekend Argus on Saturday that his office was aware that the video was staged, saying: “We are relieved there wasn’t a real incident.”
Traut added: “Any initiative to bring down violence on the Cape Flats is welcomed by the police.
“But we would like sensitise the community (that) before you share information as news, try and verify the facts.
“It creates panic in the communities and we don’t need that.”