The Manenberg community is fearing a resurgence in gang violence, after three people were killed in isolated shooting incidents at the weekend. Police are currently investigating the possibility that one of the deceased is connected to the initial shooting incident.

The violence unfolded on Sunday with Western Cape SAPS spokesperson, Frederick Van Wyk, confirming that two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder are under investigation following the first incident. The incident took place on Sunday at 08:40 in Storms River Walk.

A 23-year-old man was fatally shot on the scene, and a 17-year-old girl later succumbed to her injuries in hospital. Two other men were also injured and received medical treatment.

Shortly afterwards, police responded to another shooting nearby at the intersection of Storms River Way and Storms River Walk. They discovered the body of a 33-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds.

“It’s alleged that the deceased was the suspect who shot the victims earlier in Storms River Walk. It is currently unknown who shot the deceased.”

Chairperson of the Manenberg Community Policing Forum, Vernon Visagie, says this incident follows a period relative calm in the area. He also expressed disappointment in the community’s response, revealing that “SAPS wasn’t informed” of the incident by residents but only learned of it when those injured sought help while in hospital.

Visagie says these shootings follow a meeting with the Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC, Anroux Marais, and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, on Friday. He says during the meeting it was highlight how well officers stationed in Manenberg are performing, despite having little resources.

“A very positive report came out of that meeting… Manenberg is doing extremely well with the resources that they have at their disposal. But Manenberg is the most under-resourced station on the Cape Flats.”

But Visagie highlighted the unpredictability of violence in Manenberg, stressing the urgent need for heightened resources. He says they currently have a staff complement of 147 officers but need about 211 officers to function optimally.

“Taking into consideration, it is a gang-infested area, so we need more resources. There is so much required of these officers to perform the duty which they cannot. And I’m saying that appealing to the authorities, Manenburg cannot do so with these resources at hand.”

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