Cape Town - Manenberg residents are reeling after four people were shot and killed in two separate incidents on Wednesday night.
Police said they were investigating the circumstances leading to the murders.
According to police spokesperson Andre Traut, at around 7pm two vehicles with unknown assailants opened fire on a group of three men standing on the corners of Jordan and Silver Stream roads.
An 18-year-old was killed, while two, aged 41 and 48, were wounded.
“Ten minutes later four suspects driving a white unknown vehicle fired several shots at three male victims on the corners of Klipfontein and Jupiter roads in Surrey Estate, fatally wounding all three, aged 19, 20 and 28.
“In both incidents the suspects fled and are yet to be apprehended,” he said.
Surrey Estate Neighbourhood Watch member Ebraheem Regal said that residents were shocked at the incident.
“This incident stems from gang-violence where it is believed that members of a rival gang shot at the others.We are really worried about crime. We are calling for an end to violence,” he said.
The incident comes nearly two weeks after hundreds of ‘fed-up residents’ from Surrey Estate took to the streets and marched to the houses of alleged gang members to tell them to stop the crime in the area.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the body of an unknown woman was found floating in shallow waters at Macassar Beach at the weekend.
The woman who is yet to be identified was seen floating by beachgoers at around 7am on Saturday.
Police spokesperson, Malcolm Pojie said: “An autopsy will be conducted in the week to determine the cause of death.
“Macassar police have opened an inquest docket for further investigation.
Macassar Community Policing Forum (CPF) spokesperson Russell Williams called for more police visibility in the area.
“The first suspicion is that she might have been dumped in the area.
“The community is shocked and we are appealing to residents to be on the lookout for any criminal activities.
I would also like to kindly urge the police to be more visible, because we do need more manpower,” he said.
In the second incident, the body of a man suspected to have been stabbed to death was found in the bushes on Macassar Road on Sunday, May 28.
“From what we understand, a broken bottle neck was used to inflict the wounds he sustained on his neck and face,” said ward councillor Peter Helfrich.
“Macassar has been facing a power crisis and criminals take advantage of this. The power crisis, coupled with the fact that we are serviced by a police station that is wholly under-resourced, has directly resulted in the escalation of crime in the area,” he said.
Gender-based violence and crime activist, Roegshanda Pascoe said: “Such acts of violence should not have a place in our communities, this means that we have a problem that we need to address and it's a pandemic.”
Anyone with information can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or or use the My SAPS app.
Cape Times