Cape Town - There have been more than 400 mass shooting cases in the Western Cape between June 2019 and December last year.
This was revealed by the South African Police Service in a reply to a question from Western Cape Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC Reagen Allen in the provincial legislature.
Police define a mass shooting as an incident in which three or more people are shot.
The most recent mass shooting was on Sunday in Mitchells Plain where three people were shot dead by an unknown lone gunman. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa, the gunman arrived at an address in Jersey Street, Westridge, at 9.30pm and asked for the owner. “The armed man proceeded to shoot the owner and two other men inside the home,” she said.
“All three died on the scene. The suspect fled and is yet to be arrested. Investigations into the shooting incident that is believed to be gang-related continue.”
Before that, there were three other mass shootings in Khayelitsha that claimed the lives of 17 people.
Allen said that of the 442 mass shootings registered by police between June 2019 and December last year, 563 people were killed and more than 1 000 were wounded.
“The number of mass shootings in the Western Cape between June 2019 and December 2021 is deeply concerning. Almost 50%, which is 211 of these shooting incidents are, however, gang-related. From these, more than 50 are either revenge or retaliation attacks,” said Allen.
“This is part of the reason why a large number of LEAP officers are strategically placed in areas where gang violence is rife. We’ve already seen how the murder rate in Nyanga has been significantly reduced. Along with our LEAP intervention, it is prudent that when arrests occur, convictions follow, as this will send a strong and clear message to any perpetrator.”
He called on society to assist and report these incidents so that these and all other types of crime can be eradicated.