Alarm raised as Cape Town grapples with multiple shooting incidents

Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, has expressed concerns over the upsurge of mass shootings in the Western Cape.

Cameron confirmed another shooting victim’s body was found in Bonteheuwel on Wednesday evening. This follows the murder of six people earlier this week and the killing of three people in Kraaifontein in Cape Town, also on Wednesday evening.

He says law enforcement has lost control and can no longer combat the high levels of crime due to a lack of resources.

Suspects arrested for Kraaifontein killings – In conversation with Ian Cameron

Meanwhile, in Wallacedene in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, three men accused of criminal activity were killed and set alight by community members on Wednesday night.

Police spokesperson Andre Traut says the community killed the three victims, believed to be in their thirties. Traut says communities should refrain from taking the law into their own hands.

“Police were alerted to the incident in Laboheme Street in Wallacedene, where the bodies of the victims were discovered. Preliminary information suggests the victims were accused by community members of criminal activity. Instead of allowing the law to take its course, they were violently attacked. The South African Police Service condemns vigilantism in the strongest possible terms. Taking the law into one’s own hands is a criminal offence, and those who participate in such acts will be prosecuted.”