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Cape Town’s gang-ridden underbelly is still locked in a deadly dance with gun violence, and the bullets aren’t slowing down.
Over 350 shootings in just 28 days. Nyanga, Hanover Park, Manenberg, and Lavender Hill are bleeding out, one shot at a time.
The numbers don’t lie, and they’re coming straight from the City of Cape Town’s ShotSpotter system – that fancy bit of tech that hears gunfire and zeroes in on it with terrifying accuracy.
Every time a bullet goes bang, the City’s law enforcement scrambles, and SAPS gets the ping. No 10111 call needed as the tech is doing the talking.
“Gun violence in these communities has been ignored for too long,” said JP Smith, Mayco member for Safety and Security said via Weekend Argus.
“Unless someone dies or a formal complaint is lodged, no police case is opened, no record is created, and no action is taken. That’s why we funded ShotSpotter – to collect real-time evidence and push national government to send more reinforcements where they’re urgently needed.”
If someone doesn’t literally drop dead, it might as well not have happened, unless ShotSpotter caught it.
Case in point: just after 5AM one morning, two shots cracked through Hanover Park. Not a single resident called it in. But ShotSpotter? It clocked the gunfire in seconds. Cops were on the scene before the echoes even faded.
“For too long there was no proof of the scale of the problem,” Smith added. “Now we have the data. This system has already helped us recover hundreds of firearms and make numerous arrests. But we need more – more SAPS officers on the ground and more detectives to ensure those arrested are properly investigated and convicted, not simply released and returned to terrorise their communities.”
So, there’s data, arrests, and guns off the streets. But the shooters? Many are still slipping through the cracks, coming back with fresh ammo.
SAPS is doing what it can. On a recent patrol in Rocklands, they bagged a 26-year-old suspected gang member hiding out in Pikkewyn Street. A pistol and a stash of ammo were found tucked away in the house. The guy’s been charged with possession of a prohibited firearm. One more tick on the list, but the war’s far from won.
FACSA, the Fight Against Crime SA crew, logged 79 shooting incidents reported by the public between 5–11 May. And that’s just what got through. With underreporting and community fear, there’s likely a lot more that’s gone uncounted.
Their breakdown for the week includes 18 separate shootings, with 32 people hit and 12 who didn’t make it. Meanwhile, six are in critical condition, and there are eight that nobody knows yet. One extra body was also found, with the cause of death still a question mark.
And the confirmed horror stories just keep stacking up.
Take 2 May in Agulhas Court, Hanover Park. A 33-year-old man was shot in the chest. His dead body showed up at the hospital, but he wasn’t the only one. An eight-year-old girl and another adult were also hit by bullets. Sadly, they were just bystanders. As we speak, there are still no arrests.
The day before, Clarke Estate, Elsies River, saw a bloodbath. Three men, aged 17 to 40, were gunned down while a fourth was shot in the hand. SAPS opened murder and attempted murder dockets. The Anti-Gang Unit’s now chasing leads.
And over in Lentegeur that same week? Another ambush. A 42-year-old man was gunned down behind the wheel on Linaria Road. A woman in the car was hit by a bullet in the leg and ended up in the hospital.
Clearly, the streets aren’t just unsafe, they’re downright hostile.
[Source: Weekend Argus]
