One person was killed and three seriously injured when gunmen opened fire on a local spaza shop in Nyanga on Monday night.
Also read: Four dead, several injured in mass shooting incident in Nyanga
According to police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, a 19-year-old man lost his life while three other people aged between 17 and 20 were rushed to a nearby hospital.
The incident occurred at the Africa Shop on Zwelitsha Drive.
Police are still investigating the motive for the attack. The suspects are still unknown.
Nyanga Community Policing Forum (CPF) Secretary Dumisani Qwebe told News24 that the victims were bystanders when the gunmen approached the shop, adding that they were ‘unintentionally’ hit.
‘This is yet again another low barbaric attempt by criminals who want to extort money from foreign nationals who open shop in the area just to make an honest living.’
‘Those young men did not need to be attacked in such a cruel manner. One of them was a schoolboy, and now he’s dead. Those young men were clearly at the wrong place at the wrong time, and now some of them are fighting for their lives.’
He added that the shooting started when people were coming home from work, noting that many had to scatter and hide. The gunmen, who reportedly were there to rob the shop, allegedly left empty-handed when the victims fell to the ground.
‘It was very scary. Residents living in the area should not have to fear for their lives at the hands of criminals who wish to carry out their barbaric acts of greed for their own selfish agendas,’ he said.
‘They just don’t care who they kill in the line of performing their criminal activities, and it’s sad that in this incident, another young life has been lost. As the CPF, we condemn this criminality in the strongest form.’
Qwebe also raised concerns about extortion in the area.
‘Extortion in the area is bad. Innocent people are losing their lives at the hands of criminals and if the victims don’t have the money to pay the criminals off, then their lives will be taken. That is not how one should live. We cannot allow criminals to run this country.’
Since January, Western Cape police arrested nine suspects in connection with 14 incidents of mass murder in Cape Town.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut says crime syndicates will not ‘become unstoppable’ in the province, noting that police don’t only rely on information from residents as many community members are ‘fearful and hesitant to give eyewitness accounts of incidents’.
‘Detectives use various other methods to get to the bottom of these crimes. SAPS will not allow a handful of criminals to hold an entire community to ransom with callous acts of violence.’
However, Traut notes that a large challenge in investigations is the reluctance of people to provide information. ‘Some residents on the Cape Flats would rather continue to live in fear in communities than provide information to the police on criminal activities happening in the area.’
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Law enforcement officer narrowly escapes injury in Nyanga shootout
Picture: Brenton Geach / Unsplash