There have been at least 23 murders and 21 attempted murders across the City of Cape Town in the last three days.
The Chairperson of the Police Portfolio Committee, MP Ian Cameron, says this is based on a review of incident reports and official police confirmations for 6 to 8 November 2026.
The incidents include four men killed at the Bellville taxi rank on Saturday night, where another man and a seven-year-old child were wounded.
Three men were killed and another wounded in Glen Close, Grassy Park, on Sunday night, while in Strandfontein, one man was killed and two others wounded when gunmen opened fire at a garage.
Further murders and attempted murders were reported in Tafelsig, Rocklands, Lentegeur, Lavender Hill and other communities.
“The motives in several cases remain under investigation, and every incident should not automatically be labelled gang-related. The verified pattern nevertheless shows repeated firearm attacks, multiple victims and gunmen who appear able to move through communities with confidence.”
Cameron warns Cape Town is confronting three separate, although sometimes overlapping, categories of organised violence: taxi, gang and extortion violence.
“SAPS should not collapse these categories into a single generic gang or violent-crime problem. Each requires a specific intelligence picture, dedicated investigations and an appropriate prosecution strategy. The networks may overlap, use the same shooters or obtain weapons from the same suppliers. That makes coordinated firearm tracing, financial investigation and crime-intelligence work essential.”
Cameron has urged the SAPS to begin a sustained, intelligence-led and lawful harassment of identified gang strongholds.
“I use the term “lawful harassment” deliberately. Gang structures should have no room to operate. Whenever they move firearms, collect extortion money, use known drug premises, intimidate residents or recruit children, lawful police pressure should follow.”
The DA MP says this will require, among others, lawfully executed search warrants and targeted operations against identified premises; enforcement of bail, parole and firearm conditions; ballistic testing and tracing of every recovered firearm; and visible policing around confirmed hotspots, supported by capable detectives and specialised units.
“The target must be identified criminals and organised networks. Communities living under criminal control should experience the police as a permanent protective presence, rather than an occasional operation after innocent people have already been killed.”
“At least 23 murders in three days demand an operational response equal to the scale of the violence. Innocent people cannot continue paying with their lives while criminal networks and gun suppliers operate with confidence.”
