While the ruling party, the ANC, is in the middle of hosting its 6th National Policy Conference in Nasrec, another mass shooting occurred on Saturday night, which left seven people dead and others injured in KwaZulu-Natal.
A total of six people were killed at a tuck shop in Marianhill and on Sunday morning another victim died, with no arrests having been made.
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has mobilised all available police resources to hunt down the heartless killers.
Mkhwanazi said it is alleged that at 7:30pm, a group of unknown men opened fire at people who were at a tuckshop in Marianhill, killing six men aged between 30 and 65 years old. One other man who sustained gunshot wounds was transported to hospital for medical attention and died later.
He said initial investigations revealed that three of the deceased were the tuckshop owner as well as his two sons and another man who was waiting at the tuckshop to see a traditional healer, might have been the actual target of the hit.
“This incident once again demonstrates our concern that firearms are contributing to the high levels of crime in the province and we are advocating for stricter regulations regarding the management of legal firearms as many of them end up being used by criminals. We will do everything within our control to bring these killers to book,” said Mkhwanazi.
This happens in the wake of violent crime, which left eight women brutally gang raped, traumatised and robbed near Krugersdorp on Thursday night. It was reported that the criminals were armed with high-calibre ammunition.
So far, police have arrested over 80 suspects and most of them are foreign nationals.
Peace and Stability Chairperson David Mahlobo delivered a commission report to the media, where he said the party was concerned about violent crimes happening in South Africa and also the fact that there are a lots of illegal firearms that are in the hands of criminals especially in Gauteng and KZN.
Mahlobo said criminality is criminality despite who is doing it, this is after reports that a number of foreign nationals are involved in criminal activities, Mahlobo also said delegates discussed the issue of immigration to come up with practical efforts to curb crime in the country.
“The issuing of firearms and ammunition was also discussed. This is the biggest challenge we face. In the period during the negotiations and the early years of our democracy, we still know that there were many firearms circulating, especially around Gauteng and KZN and some of these guns were not reported. A number of firearms belonging to the state had been lost, including firearms found used by gangsters and private securities is one of the issues we need to tighten in terms of firearm control and firearm management. Those are some of the issues we discussed.
“We commend the police who arrested over 80 suspects involved in the rape incident in Krugersdorp,” said Mahlobo.
The commission discussed the issue of overhaul of a complete immigration system in South Africa by delegates on Saturday.
The Social Transformation lead by Lindiwe Sisulu heard that the ANC Women’s League raised the issue of chemical castration as one of the ways they proposed to be used against rapists.
“Anyone found guilty of rape should be subjected to chemical castration and they must not qualify for parole,” said Sisulu.
She said the social transformation committee spent two hours discussing a number of issues including gender-based violence.