Cape Town - The Lentegeur Community Police Forum (CPF) said it expected retaliation after an alleged gangster was shot dead.
The man, 47, was walking to the shop when he was gunned down by three suspects on Viola Street yesterday who then fled the scene.
The victim is said to have been a gangster in his youth, but had stopped.
CPF chairperson Byron de Villiers said: “The shooting was gang-related. Even if he quit that kind of life, he remains a gangster.
“We have recently seen a spike in gang shootings. We don’t know the reason for the shootings. It’s the Junior Mafias who are allegedly shooting at the Fancy Boys gang members.”
He suspected the war was about turf or drugs.
“In the last month, we had 10 murders in the Lentegeur precinct. It gets difficult for the police because they have to investigate which murder was gang-related or not, but we have had a number of murders recently.
“We have had a very quiet period compared to about three years ago where we would have more than 50 murders a month.
“The community helped bring down the killings and we really hope they do the same this time because the police can’t do this alone, they need all of us to work together to fight crime, especially gangsterism.
“There has been some demographics which changed and we have seen the flare-up in shootings. We can now expect a retaliation after yesterday’s shooting.”
De Villiers said the City should work with the police.
“When the City stops finger-pointing (at) the police and making their resources available daily, then change will happen.
“We also need Leap officers in our area. It has to be a collective effort from all the stakeholders.”
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said they were investigating the motive for the attack.
“A murder case was opened for investigation. Circumstances surrounding this shooting incident are under investigation. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this stage of the investigation.”
Anyone with information can call Crime Stop at 0860010111.