Gun violence continues to escalate on the Cape Flats, despite the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Local authorities had their hands full this long weekend, as several gun-related incidents were reported across the Cape Flats.

An unknown man was gunned down in Eastridge, Mitchells Plain, last night. In an unrelated incident, the body of an unidentified man was found in the Town Centre earlier this morning. The circumstances behind both attacks remain unknown.

Lynn Phillips, the Cape Flats Crime Forum Secretary (CFCF), has condemned the attacks, stressing that while the SANDF has been deployed, many of the latest reported incidents occurred when members were off-duty.

“While we have resources, such as the SANDF with Operation Prosper, murders continue when these resources are not on duty. I believe operational details should remain confidential, with no public broadcasts, parades, or radio messages, so that deployments are effective. Intelligence and monitoring should be handled internally by the SANDF to ensure success.”

Yesterday, an 18-year-old was shot and killed on the corner of Canal Road and Pearl Crescent, Vygieskraal. Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg says the motive is believed to be gang-related.

“Athlone Police members attended to the crime scene where they found the victim with gunshot wounds to his body. The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel. The motive for the attack is believed to be gang-related. The suspect/s fled the scene and are yet to be arrested.”

Authorities are investigating multiple incidents over the weekend in Kalksteenfontein, Hanover Park, Bishop Lavis, Manenberg, Delft, and surrounding areas. Activists argue that more proactive law enforcement strategies are needed to tackle crime and bring stability to the communities.

The Bishop Lavis Crime Prevention Forum Chairperson, Graham Lindhorst, says while they appreciate the additional support offered by the SANDF, there are concerns that the deployment may not deliver the expected outcomes.

“The SANDF deployment is not a solution. Our problems are of a social nature and need social intervention. People have mixed emotions about the soldiers in the area; while some feel it helps, others feel they are too heavy-handed.”

Lindhorst has stressed that meaningful change can only happen when the South African Police Service (SAPS) and crime-fighting groups work collectively to combat crime.

“We reiterate our call to SAPS to work much closer with communities through CPFs, Neighbourhood Watches, organisations within the safety sector, etc. Come into the areas, talk to leaders, and look for ways to deal with the social ills.”

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Disclaimer: Due to descriptions of cruelty

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA seeks witnesses after a deliberate, sustained act of cruelty leaves a mother dog dead in a Brown’s Farm canal. A female dog recovered barely alive from a canal in Brown’s Farm, Philippi, died because someone made a series of deliberate choices: to twist a length of wire around her neck in two places, to carry her to a litter-strewn, filthy canal, throw her in and to leave her there.

SPCA LAUNCHES URGENT APPEAL FOR INFORMATION IN PHILIPPI DOG CRUELTY CASE

Inspector Lwazi Ntungele from the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, responding to a report, found her still breathing. Blood had pooled in her nostrils. She was too weak to stand, too weakened by days of sustained suffering to do more than register the presence of the inspector who waded in to reach her. She tried, nonetheless.

“She tried to come to me,” said Inspector Lwazi Ntungele, who attended the scene. “She knew I was there to help, but she was too weak.”

 

WIRE. WATER. WAITING TO DIE:

A veterinarian subsequently determined that euthanasia was the only humane course of action. Grace, as she was named, was beyond help and was relieved of her suffering. The person responsible for inflicting it remains unidentified.

KNOW THIS DOG

Grace was a Pitbull-type dog, adult in age, with a brown and white coat. She was medium to large in build, as is typical of the breed type, and her physical condition at the time of recovery, while severely compromised, was consistent with a dog that had been cared for, or at a minimum kept, in a domestic setting. Her teats were elongated, the clearest possible indication that she had recently been nursing a litter of puppies.

Anyone who recognises this description – a brown and white Pitbull-type female, adult, recently lactating, from the Brown’s Farm area or surrounds, is urged to contact the SPCA immediately. She may have been known in the community by a different name. She may have been visible in a yard, on a property, or as part of a breeding arrangement. Any point of recognition is a potential lead.

A MOTHER, DISCARDED

What makes this case particularly disturbing, among details that are already extreme, is what Grace’s body reveals about her recent past. Used for breeding, and then disposed of. That is the conclusion Inspectors are working from. The inference is as blunt as it is damning: once her utility ended, so did any consideration for her life.

“This dog knew the person,” said Inspector Ntungele. “There was trust there. That trust was broken. After being used for breeding, all she was left with was pain and suffering.”

The positioning of the wire and the manner in which it was secured around Grace’s neck are consistent with deliberate application. Inspectors assess that the act required time, proximity, and intent.

“Whoever did this took their time,” Ntungele said. “They took their time.”

AN INSPECTOR’S ACCOUNT

Inspector Ntungele has served in animal welfare enforcement through cases that would test the resolve of the most seasoned professional. He has stated unequivocally that this is the worst he has encountered.

“This is the worst case of cruelty I have ever seen,” he said.

The image of Grace attempting to move toward him, recognising help, unable to reach it, remained with him long after he left the scene.

“I couldn’t sleep that night.”

When a professional who responds to cruelty for a living describes a scene as the worst he has witnessed, the public should understand the significance of that assessment.

THE SPCA’S APPEAL

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has opened a formal cruelty case and is calling on anyone with information to come forward immediately. Inspectors are working to establish who owned her and who did this to her. None of that is possible without the public’s help.

“Animals cannot tell us who harmed them,” said SPCA Spokesperson Belinda Abraham. “In cases like this, accountability depends on those who know something choosing to come forward.”

Inspectors believe Grace originated from Brown’s Farm or its surrounding areas, and that those who knew her, or knew of her, may be within that community. Someone knows this dog. A person knows where she came from. Someone may know who last had her.

INFORMATION CAN BE PROVIDED IN CONFIDENCE

The SPCA urges members of the public not to assume that someone else will make the call. Every detail matters. Small details have closed serious cases before. It can close this one.

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA guarantees that information shared with inspectors will be treated confidentially. No member of the public will be required to identify themselves publicly to assist this investigation.

Contact Details:

To report information, contact the Cape of Good Hope SPCA Inspectorate directly:

0217004158/9 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Email inspectorate@spca-ct.co.za or send a direct message via the organisation’s social media channels @Capespca. Reports can also be made anonymously here: Report Cruelty • Cape of Good Hope SPCA

Grace could not speak for herself. She had no voice and no means of identifying the person responsible. That voice now belongs to anyone in the community who holds even a fragment of information. Use it.

THIS ARTICLE WAS COMPILED BY THE SPCA MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND PR TEAM.

US President Donald Trump’s utterances have become increasingly unhinged, with a social media post on his Truth Social account on Easter Sunday, evoking disgust and horror.

His expletive-laden post was criticised the world over, with many commentators accusing Trump of openly threatening to commit war crimes in Iran.

The post read: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*ckin’ Strait, you crazy b*stards, or you’ll be living in Hell—JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

While many argued the post is not in Trump’s usual style, it does illustrate that perhaps Trump and the administration are getting increasingly desperate.

Political historian Heather Cox-Richardson, whose daily Facebook posts on the Trump Presidency have become essential reading, notes he is panicked that he has not been able to bully other countries into fixing the mess he created by attacking Iran and precipitating the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and is now simply trying to bully Iran.

In a column for The Guardian, Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, wrote that Trump “has declared ‘victory’ more than eight times,” says he has “won” more than ten times, and said Iranian forces have been “obliterated” or suffered “obliteration” more than six times.

Blumenthal noted Trump is now threatening to “obliterate” Iran’s power grid and has used the words “decimate” or “decimation” at least six times.

Cox-Richardson also notes that Trump’s expletive-laden post pushed back yet again the deadline for his threats to rain destruction on Iran, which he then extended again in another post: “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”

Other commentators have noted that his deadlines and his abandonment of them often seem tied to the rhythms of the stock market, which has prompted some American lawmakers to probe possible insider trading.

In an interview with Axios, also on Easter Sunday,  Trump reiterated that “if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there” but also said the U.S. is “in deep negotiations” with Iran and that he thinks a deal can be reached.

Some quotes from lawmakers who believe Trump should be removed from power:

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy:  “If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Representative Yassamin Ansari: “The 25th Amendment exists for a reason. The President of the United States is a deranged lunatic, and a national security threat to our country and the rest of the world.” 

Representative Melanie Stansbury: “The emperor has no clothes. Time for the #25thAmendment. Congress and the Cabinet must act.”

Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Everyone in his administration that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump’s madness. I know all of you and him, and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit.”

At the traditional White House Easter Egg roll on Monday morning, Trump repeatedly veered off course.

While the occasion is meant to be a celebration, even the Easter Bunny seemed uneasy, as Trump told reporters:

“If it were up to me, I’d like to keep the oil. I just don’t think the people of the United States would really understand.”

He suggested that attacking Iran’s infrastructure wouldn’t be a war crime because “they killed 45,000 people in the last month. More than that. It could be as much as sixty. They killed protesters. They’re animals, and we have to stop them, and we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump: “How did I do with the voters that do eggs? Did anybody in the egg industry vote for Kamala? A low IQ person. She’s a low IQ person.” pic.twitter.com/a780ZGDwEb

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2026

Trump also claimed again that former presidents are telling him they wish they had done what he did in attacking Iran, but all four living ex-presidents have denied speaking to him.

A later press conference at the White House continued the trend of bizarre utterances and downright lies, as he told reporters that Iranians are upset when the strikes on their country stop.

“They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom. The Iranians have, and we’ve had numerous intercepts—’Please keep bombing.’ Bombs that are dropping near their homes. ‘Please keep bombing! Do it.’ And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding, and when we leave and we’re not hitting those areas, they’re saying, “Please come back, come back, come back!’”

Trump: “Somebody said, ‘Oh, he doesn’t have a plan.’ I have the best plan of all, but I’m not going to tell you what my plan is.” pic.twitter.com/o0oti2gvmU

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2026

As Trump’s deadline for Iran approaches, he posted another threat on Tuesday morning: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

A U.S. president threatens to exterminate a civilization

Genocidal language from a deranged person who should be removed from office pic.twitter.com/Q5TRbYZZ7z

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 7, 2026

*The article has been updated to reflect on Trump’s latest threat.