Three men were shot dead and four had to be rushed to hospital in yet another mass shooting in Gugulethu.
A traditional ceremony celebration at a house in NY112 on Saturday night ended tragically after men who arrived in a silver vehicle allegedly stormed into one of the rooms and started shooting, before fleeing the scene.
The motive for the shooting incident is yet to be determined.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said members responded to a report of a mass murder at about 10.50pm in Gugulethu where three men were shot and killed by unknown assailants.
“Two of the victims are aged 38 and 40, while the third victim’s age is still unknown.
“A fourth victim was shot and wounded and admitted to hospital for treatment.”
Traut said the circumstances leading to the incident were under investigation and arrests were yet to be made.
“At this stage, it is too soon to speculate about a possible motive. Any person who can shed light on the case can share the information (anonymously) and it will be treated confidentially,” he said.
Mass shootings have been an issue in the and Khayelitsha in recent years; about five people were shot dead at a traditional cleansing ceremony in NY 79 in Gugulethu in July 2021 and three others were wounded.
Last year police finally managed to track down the suspects, arresting Thabo Dyasi, Sivuyile Matoti and Lundi Zweni.
Zweni, who already faced a string of charges, was also linked to the killing of multiple people in Khayelitsha.
Gugulethu Uprising’ Marc Matebe said like many communities in the province they were concerned about crime and didn’t imagine that this early in the year the area would already be faced with a mass shooting.
“At this stage we can’t say how the crime level has been because crime is a norm, a daily issue. We also live in a community where people are scared to speak out because they might be the next victim.
As community structures with the safety and security of residents at heart, we used to have meetings in the local stations where there would be discussions about crime stats but they were stopped.
“There is also a problem of not having enough resources, the local police are understaffed. I don’t even want to mention metro police, you are very fortunate if you spot one,” said Matebe.
