The Chairperson of the Elsies River Community Policing Forum has called on police to reintroduce foot patrols in the area after three teenagers and a man were shot in Donegal Avenue on Tuesday.

14-year-old Ravensmead high school learner Jahmiel van Reenen was shot dead shortly after he left his house to walk to school. Two other learners, who attend different schools in the area, and a 55-year-old man were also wounded.

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The anti-gang unit launched a manhunt for the shooters, but no one has been arrested yet.

The other two teenagers have reportedly been discharged from hospital.

CPF leader Hamish Arries says the entire Western Cape is under attack with turf wars between rival gangs, and the community is demanding more boots on the ground.

“We need the government to get a wake-up and say that foot patrols are important. It doesn’t make sense for the (police) vehicles to once in a while pass by, knowing full well that it is a red zone area. Just to drive by to make sure there is some visibility is not enough.”

 

Arries says the shooting on Tuesday was completely senseless and shocking, as the victims were randomly shot.

“As we stood with the mother and the father…they were onlookers, they actually saw what transpired. This gunman just opened fire on the children! He was so blatant he even ran after the other girl that was shot in the legs. I mean, how callous can you be?”

Arries says the entire area is under siege from gangs, adding that the proliferation of guns on the streets also needs to be addressed.

“It’s volatile, there are a lot of gangsters crawling around like cockroaches, this is what is happening right now on the entire Cape Flats, every street, every corner, every flat has been demarcated by these drug dealers and their peddlers.”