Cape Town - The fatal shooting of an alleged gang leader on Friday in Mitchells Plain has raised fears of increased gang violence in the area.
The man, believed to be the leader of the Junior Mafia gang, had just appeared on a gun-related charge when he was shot in front of the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court entrance, which is also next to a police station.
A day before the incident, on the corner of Highlands Drive and Eisleben Road, a 3-year-old girl was shot and killed while travelling with a 25-year-old woman, believed to be her mother, and a 28-year-old man when gunmen opened fire.
She died after being shot in the head.
In response to these incidents, the Cape Flats Safety Forum said there was no political will to end the ongoing gang violence on the Cape Flats and called for a special probe to be set up to deal with the rampant gun violence.
Forum chairperson Abbie Isaacs said more people were dying through gang and gun violence on the Cape Flats daily then those who were dying in the Russian-Ukraine war.
“As the forum we condemn all the shootings that have become the norm in and around the Cape flats. We believe and hold the view that there is no political will from the government, especially provincially, to deal with what we call urban terror genocide.
“There needs to be a special probe to deal with this violence that’s prevalent on the Cape Flats. We are at a point where we have heard enough of the police minister (Bheki Cele) constantly visiting bereaved families.
“We want action, not condolences,” he said.
Isaacs said the latest crime statistics in the Mitchells Plain area, where over three months 40 people were murdered, must send an alarm to the three spheres of government.
Isaacs criticised what he said was the lack of intelligence when these shooting incidents occurred.
“We know for a fact that just a few metres away from where the incident happened on Friday, in front of the court, there is a high mast CCTV camera belonging to the City of Cape Town which we believe should have captured the incident.
“However, whenever there is such an incident in the town centre it’s either the fibre was down or the cameras were not working, though they constantly monitor the town centre,” he said.
Police spokesperson Nowonga Sukwana said the circumstances surrounding a shooting incident at First Avenue, Eastridge, was under investigation.
Sukwana said the man sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his head and that the motive for the shooting was yet to be determined.
Sukwana said Mitchells Plain police were investigating a case of murder.