More boots have been put on the ground after more shootings occurred at the Cape Flats in the past week. (David Harrison/M&G)
Drive-by shootings, turf war, high-speed chases and murder. This is what Cape Flats residents experienced in the past week. Now Western Cape law enforcement agencies have put more boots on the ground.
Last week additional resources — the police’s anti-gang unit, the metro police gang drug task team and the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement officers — were sent to various hotspots on the Cape Flats.
Constant shootouts between four gangs in Manenberg kept people locked inside their homes, with residents describing the raging gun fights as a “complicated” drug turf war.
Law enforcement officers are also continuing their search for a key suspect linked to multiple gang-related shootings, including that of a local soccer player, in the past week in Manenberg on the Cape Flats.
The suspect, known as “Poerang”, is also alleged to be connected to the murder on 18 September of Abdullah (Dulla) Boonzaaier, the son of murdered gang boss Rashied Staggie.
On Monday morning, police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said that police officers and members of other law enforcement agencies remain on the ground in affected areas “until we are satisfied that law and order have been restored”.
But Poerang, a drug dealer and the alleged hitman for the Hard Livings gang, remains at large.
Twigg said a shootout between gangs on Duinefontein Road erupted in front of the Manenberg police station on 30 November.
“This shooting led the conflict into another gang’s turf, which has now led to a retaliation by the other gangs in the area,” he said.
Residents said the Hard Livings are fighting with the Clever Kids and the No Fears, the latter a group formed by a former member of the American’s gang, while the Fancy Boys are targeting the Hard Livings.
Fifteen to 25 people have been shot over four days. Six were killed, including a woman believed to be in her 70s, according to various law enforcement sources and residents.
On Saturday evening eight people — including a 25-year-old woman — were wounded when suspects in a drive-by shooting opened fire on a group of people in a parking area of an apartment block in Manenberg, killing a 21-year-old man, according to Twigg.
Manenberg seemed to have been the epicentre of shootings over the past five days, but shooting incidents were reported in other areas including Hanover Park, Heideveld, Tafelsig, Beacon Valley, Lavender Hill and Elsies River.
On Monday morning, a high-speed chase between metro police and people in a stolen black Audi resulted in two suspects being apprehended and a firearm confiscated, said Metro police spokesperson Ruth Solomons in a statement.
The two are linked to a drive-by shooting in which two people were injured earlier on Monday in Heideveld
Solomons said the suspects are charged with attempted murder, reckless and negligent driving, possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition, and possession of a stolen vehicle.