Cape Town - After another mass shooting that included an off-duty police officer, the residents of Gugulethu are demanding that the government declare a state of emergency in the township.
In less than a week, 10 people have been murdered in two mass killings.
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said provincial serious violent crimes (SVC) detectives had initiated a murder investigation following an incident in which four men and a woman were shot and killed in Gugulethu on Saturday evening.
“Police reports indicate that two vehicles were parked on the side of the road in NY 5 in Gugulethu at approximately 11pm when a number of suspects were dropped a few metres from the two vehicles by another vehicle.
“The suspects approached the two vehicles and started firing numerous shots. After shooting, the suspects fled in the vehicle that had earlier dropped them. The identities of the victims are yet to be released. SVC detectives are working around the clock in pursuit of a number of leads and no arrests have been effected yet.”
Saturday evening’s shooting follows another shooting, also in Gugulethu, where five people in two vehicles were shot and killed.
In both cases no one has been arrested.
CPF’s Linda Kabeni said they needed as much assistance as they could get to fight crime in the area.
“We send our deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. The law must take its course. We as the CPF believe this is not a police matter anymore, we need the state security in Gugulethu, we’d be fooling the police if we said this was their duty. We want the minister of police to declare a state of emergency in Gugulethu.
“We are under siege, and we don’t think this matter can be resolved by SAPS alone. We are disappointed that there’s no intelligence to prevent such cases, to root out all this nonsense that is happening here.”
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said a clear pattern had emerged from the killings.
“These killers are beyond heartless. It is critical that SAPS immediately attend to this. The intelligence at SAPS’ disposal should be acted on and arrests made. We cannot have killings of this or any other nature occurring within days of each other in our communities.
“These killings are meticulously planned and executed. Every and all leads should be followed. Anyone with information should also make it available to all law-enforcement agencies.
“For Gugulethu, the first quarter crime statistics, April to June 2023, revealed an increase of 37.2% in the murder rate when compared with the same period of the previous year. Our Leap officers will continue to operate in the area, strengthening SAPS’s hand to combat crime,” he said.