Cape Town - Four men were arrested on Saturday night following a shooting outside two popular Khayelitsha hangout spots.
On a video making rounds on social media, an orange Ford Ranger drove on Zantsi Street opposite establishments The Milk Restaurant & Champagne bar and Rands Cape Town.
One of the occupants of the bakkie fired shots, and patrons can be seen ducking. Luckily, no one was injured. Social media users soon questioned whether Khayelitsha had its own tavern shooting incident.
South Africa had numerous tavern shootings in July, with the first happening in Soweto, where the brazen gunmen mowed down 16 people. Another shooting happened in Pietermaritzburg, 500 km south east of Soweto, which saw four people killed and eight wounded.
In a statement, The Milk Restaurant & Champagne bar said the shots were fired on air and not at the establishment. This led to rumours and assumptions that it was a shooting at The Milk.
“We can confirm that no patrons were harmed nor threatened, and nor saw the incident,” said Shorn Khumalo in a statement.
“However, our on-site security personnel and tactical response team were able to inform and collaborate with the South African Police Services immediately, and the unknown shooters were caught within five minutes and 3 kilometres away from the establishment. The men have been apprehended by SAPS.”
Khumalo said it was them that released the videos and images circulating on social media as part of transparency and their commitment to ensuring their patron’s safety and security.
“We are aware that there’s been an unfortunate spate of shootings in Khayelitsha which have claimed lives. We have security measures in place and can assure our patron's safety while in our establishment or within our spaces.”
The police were approached for comment, but they said they are attending Imbizo in Khayelitsha called by police minister Bheki Cele and would only be at the office tomorrow.
Eleven people were killed in Khayelitsha in separate shootings over the weekend. These include the triple murder in Site C and the double murder in Makhaza.