Lentegeur residents demand action against escalating gang violence
Police are investigating cases of murder and attempted murder after two people were shot in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain.
Image: Leon Knipe
A community in Mitchells Plain is calling for drastic state intervention as gang-related gun violence continues to wreak havoc on the Cape Flats.
The Lentegeur Community Police Forum (CPF) has now joined the Mitchells Plain CPF in demanding a commission of inquiry into gang violence and the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to stabilise affected areas.
The renewed calls follow a deadly shooting on Wednesday night in Linaria Road, Lentegeur, in which a 42-year-old man was killed and a woman wounded.
Michael Jacobs, chairperson of the Lentegeur CPF, said the situation has spiraled beyond what conventional policing can manage.
'We had another incident where one person was shot and declared deceased. Another was wounded,' Jacobs said.
'This ongoing violence and deadly shootings within the Lentegeur precinct… we want to once again reiterate the call that normal policing cannot continue under these current circumstances.'
Jacobs said police resources remain stretched too thin to deal with the persistent gang warfare gripping the area.
Police are investigating cases of murder and attempted murder after a two people were shot in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain.
Image: Leon Knipe
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'We need to have an increase in policing resources to assist the station to deal with gang violence,' he said.
'We reiterated our call for the President to institute a commission of inquiry into gang violence on the Cape Flats. Under these abnormal circumstances, not only in Lentegeur but in most areas on the Cape Flats, we are plagued with gang violence and deadly shootings. We call for the immediate deployment of the SANDF to act as a stabiliser.'
He stressed that the time for bureaucratic meetings and discussions has passed and warned that action, not promises, is now required.
'We are way past having meetings or conferences for taking resolutions,' he said. 'It is time for the South African Police Services management on provincial and national level, together with the MEC of Community Safety and the national police minister and the deputies, to come to Lentegeur and other communities affected by gun violence.'
'It should not only be a talk shop. We want a commitment that resources will be deployed to the affected communities and that there will be change.'
According to police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg, detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.
'Lentegeur police are investigating the circumstances which led to a shooting incident in Linaria Road, Lentegeur, on Wednesday evening,' Twigg said.
'According to reports, the victim was driving in his vehicle when he came under attack. The 42-year-old male sustained gunshot wounds to his body and was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel, while the female victim sustained a gunshot wound to her leg and was taken to a medical facility for medical treatment.'
Twigg added that the motive for the attack is still unknown, and the suspects remain at large and that cases of murder and attempted murder have been opened for investigation.
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