Cape Town — Detectives from the South African Police Services (SAPS) Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes said it was pursuing three separate incidents that led to the death of eight people in Khayelitsha.
A SAPS statement revealed that five people were killed in Harare, Khayelitsha on Wednesday morning, as police probe the circumstances behind the killings,
“At around 06:00 police were summoned to a shooting incident in Ncumu Street where the bodies of four males and one female were discovered with gunshot wounds. The identities of the victim are yet to be determined,” Colonel Andre Traut said.
In another SAPS statement, police revealed that another incident had also taken place in Harare, this time at 2:50am, when two people were shot and killed. Police have strong reason to believe the two incidents may be related.
” At around 02:50 an adult male and his adult girlfriend were shot and killed In Feza Street Harare, and shortly after that, a 35 year old male was shot and killed not far from the first scene.” he added.
#sapsWC UPDATE – Harare murders.
Detectives attached to the Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes unit are pursuing a number of leads and are working around the clock to get to the bottom of three separate incidents that claimed the life of eight people in total. NP… pic.twitter.com/dbH2jf6mFD— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) April 17, 2024
According to SABC News, Former Chairperson of the Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) and community activist, Ndithini Tyhido, said the City of Cape Town government needs to be mor deliberate to combat crimes in the area.
“There is this politicking between the City of Cape Town, SAPS, as well as the provincial government of the Western Cape. Because you’ve got an issue where there will still be resistance between one level of government to the other. Or having to have one give the other access to their resources. All we ask is better coordination by all three spheres of government, working with community structures in preventing crime from happening in our community.” Tyhido said.
As reported by EWN, Western Cape CPF chairperson, Francina Lucas, also said that more needed to be done to stop the mass shootings on the Cape Flats.
“We really call on government to prioritise even the safety of our volunteers and to ensure that we don’t have any casualties. We are doing this because we love our communities and we want a safer environment for our kids, but it cannot be at the detriment of ourselves.” Lucas added.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
