WITH the festive season approaching, police fear they might not be able to police a popular entertainment spot in Khayelitsha where a policeman was gunned down on Friday night.
The 31 year-old Constable Vumile Melane, was off-duty when he was approached and shot by unknown assailants while he was out with friends at the place commonly known as ePakini, along Spine Road.
Lingelethu West Station Commander, Colonel Attwell Nodume, whose station police’s the area, said their policing was limited by the availability of two vehicles which makes it difficult to maintain constant visibility in the area.
According to one trader who spoke on condition of anonymity, the incident had now raised fears about the safety of patrons.
He told the Weekend Argus, Melane was a "regular" patron to the spot.
"The place was packed as usual on Friday night with revellers. Then shots rang out and some of the patrons ran in different directions. When it was calm I saw a body lying down with bullet shots in the head,“ he said.
The trader said it appeared that the dead officer was followed while walking towards a nearby spaza shop.
He also claimed that two similar incidents occurred earlier this year but had no further details.
"If the police close the place down, businesses around the area will suffer," he added.
Nodume said Friday’s shooting was the third such incident to take place at ePakini since the beginning of the year.
ePakini was so popular that even during the stringent lockdown regulations which prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol in public places, hundreds of people visited to the open-field, situated close to the Lingelethu West Police station.
Nodume said police attempts to fight crime in the area, including ePakini, were hamstrung by few resources.
“We only have two police vehicles to carry out our policing duties in an area that stretches as far out at Swartklip Road close to Mitchells Plain and now includes about six new informal settlements.
“So it’s difficult to have regular police visibility along Spine Road. If we focus solely on ePakini we will be accused of neglecting other areas,” he said.
During a police operation in ePakin two weeks ago, police confiscated at least 500 litres of alcohol, Nodume said.
“What also compounds the challenges is that people bring the alcohol and sell it from the boot of their cars.
“We once tried to close the road to sedans and allowed only buses and trucks to go through. Traders marched on the police station in anger,” he added.
According to the crime stats released by National Police Minister Bheki Cele, Khayelitsha had the most murder cases reported in the province between January and March.
The community in Site B was still reeling from the execution-style murders of three women aged 17, 20 and 21 at the TT Block informal settlement In September.
In May 13 people, including Somali business owners were also killed in a shooting spree.
In March 2020, seven people were gunned down at a tavern in Site B after armed men stormed the house. Five people died on the scene
The stats showed that South Africans were most likely to be murdered in a public place such as the street or a park, (2378), followed by in their own or someone else’s homes (1327).
Nodume said in Lingelethu West, the most common crime incidents included murder, car hijackings, street robberies as well as business robberies.
“This is an area where the Guptas gangsters live and operate,” he said adding that another operation was being planned to fight crime.
Last Saturday Cele and Western Cape Police Commissioner, Lieut-General Thembisile Patekile launched the provincial Operational Safer Festive Season in Khayelitsha.
The Hawks confirmed an investigation was underway and no motive for the shooting had been established yet.
Hawks Spokesperson Zinzi Hani said no arrests had been made yet.