Cape Town - In less than 12 hours, Mitchells Plain residents have been rocked by three murders. Two of the victims were dragged for 100 metres and then doused with a flammable substance and set alight.
The Community Policing Forum is now appealing to witnesses to come forward and any family who have relatives who are missing to assist with the identification and case.
The charred remains of the two victims were discovered by a passer-by on Sunday just after 10am at the Sports field in Hazeldene Avenue in Portland.
The male victim was stabbed several times.
At a second scene, just after 11pm on Sunday, police found the unidentified body of an adult male who had been stabbed several times along Swartklip Road near Lentegeur.
Community Policing Forum chairperson Norman Jantjies said they were concerned about the brutality of the murders and were appealing for both police and community intervention.
All three victims have yet to be identified, and a process of DNA testing and post-mortems will be taking place.
Police spokesperson Captain Frederick Van Wyk explained: “This office can confirm that two counts of murder is under investigation at Mitchells Plain Police Station after the discovery of unidentified, burned bodies of a male and female on Sunday, June 12 at 10:00 am by a passer-by, on a sports field in Hazeldene Avenue, Portlands, Mitchells Plain.
“The male had multiple stab wounds to the back, and at this stage of the investigation, the injuries to the female are unknown.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said police were called to another scene: “ Lentegeur police attended a crime scene on Sunday evening at 11.10pm in Swartklip Road, Mitchell’s Plain.
“On arrival at the scene, they found the body of an unknown male with stab wounds.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel. The suspect/s fled the scene and are yet to be arrested.”
Jantjies said information about the double murder was still sketchy, and they believed there could be a gang link.
He added the murder took place at one location, and the victims had been dragged.
The CPF, he said, were appealing for everyone to become vigilant to crime in the community and assist in cases and to come forward with any information about a missing person.
“As the CPF, we are concerned about the violence especially gang violence, and it appears this could be gang related,” he said.
“It is a brutal murder, and we are becoming very worried.
“The bodies have not been identified yet, and there have been no arrests.
“We are asking if any person has a relative who has been missing recently to come forward with that information or if they have any information.
“The couple were murdered on one site and dragged for 100 metres and set alight. This is a brutal murder on our doorstep.
“It is for this reason that we are asking the community to play a role in crime prevention, not just the police.”
Anyone with any information about this incident is kindly requested to contact Crime Stop on 0860 010 111.