The Cape Flats Safety Forum has called on gang hotspots on the Cape Flats to be placed on lockdown, following several deadly shootings recently, which have left dozens of people dead.

The Chairperson of the Forum Abie Isaacs has labelled the current wave of gun violence “urban warfare.”

On Thursday, 3 July, four separate shootings left five people dead and seven injured in the Mitchells Plain area. Police top brass swarmed the area on Friday, but as soon as they left, more shootings were reported.

During an impromptu media briefing on Friday, Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile told the media that the fatal shooting incidents on Thursday followed an alleged domestic dispute between family members affiliated with gangs in Beacon Valley, Tafelsig and Town Centre.

Several arrests followed that initial wave of shootings, while authorities were still on the hunt for two known rival gang leaders.

In the latest gang-related shooting incident on Sunday, 6 July, two men, aged 21 and 23, were gunned down in Beacon Valley.

Shootings also occurred in surrounding suburbs.

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Isaacs says they are deeply concerned about the escalating gun violence, and together with a lockdown on certain areas, they are also calling for a curfew, similar to when it was implemented during the COVID-19 era.

He says while they acknowledge human rights considerations regarding implementing a curfew, the provincial police need to look to different strategies to get the horrific gun violence under control.

Isaacs has also said they believe the SANDF needs to be called in to act as a force multiplier.