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Mitchells Plain residents are fearful as the killings continue.
- Six people have died in three days in Mitchells Plain.
- Cape Flats Security Forum leader Abie Isaacs has labeled this “urban terror.”
- Isaacs has called for the deployment of more officers to Mitchells Plain.
“Urban terror” were the words a crime activist used to describe the gun violence that claimed the lives of six people in three days on the streets of Mitchells Plain.
“I’ve been saying this for the last two, three years. There is urban terror in Mitchells Plain and the Cape Flats and there seems to be no will to deal with this,” said Abie Isaacs, former president of the Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum and leader of the Cape Flats Safety Forum.
READ | 13-year-old boy killed, other teens injured in Mitchells Plain
He believes there is only one person who can deal with the bullets and bloodshed that is plaguing the Cape Flats: the former commander of the Mitchells Plain Police Group, Major General Jeremy Vearey.
On Saturday, four men ages 30, 36, 37 and 64 were shot at point-blank range on Maureen Street, Lost City, Mitchells Plain. A 37-year-old man was also shot, but survived, said police spokesman Colonel André Traut.
Fled
“It is alleged that unknown suspects opened fire on the group of five and fled the scene on foot,” he said.
Detectives are investigating the shooting. No arrests have been made.
The mass killing came two days after a 13-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man were shot dead and three teenagers were injured in Beacon Valley, also in Mitchells Plain.
READ | Four more dead in Mitchells Plain
Gunmen in a white vehicle allegedly opened fire on the children around 8:50 p.m. Thursday at the corner of Cadillac and Riley streets.
Around the corner, the body of an 18-year-old boy with gunshot wounds to the neck was found. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Monday, Isaacs called for the deployment of more officers to Mitchells Plain.
“But in addition to more resources, I think there is one person who can restore stability to Mitchells Plain: Major General Jeremy Vearey, the man they continue to deny. [the province’s top job]. Walk the streets. Know these streets. He is the proof that the surveillance of society works. “
Isaacs said infighting, politics and factionalism aside, he believed that Vearey could bring stability to the provincial police and help control the carnage on the Cape Flats.
In 2019, Vearey was one of the favorites to assume the position of provincial commissioner. However, he was not shortlisted because he apparently had not included proof of his qualifications in his application, which he challenged.
A former agent of Umkhonto we Sizwe and former bodyguard of former President Nelson Mandela, he is currently the province’s chief of detectives.
Lieutenant General Yolisa Mokgabudi (formerly Matakata) was appointed two years ago. Since then, she has resigned after being named acting commander of Criminal Intelligence.
READ | Sitole Appoints Veteran Cop To Lead Criminal Intelligence As Chaos Reigns
Western Cape Acting Provincial Commissioner Maj. Gen. Thembisile Patekile said on Monday there were “alarmingly high levels of serious violent crime fueled by the proliferation of illegal firearms”, following his assessment of crime patterns within the province.
In addition to the murders in Mitchells Plain, two officers were shot dead in Bloekombos, Kraaifontein in the early hours of Sunday; two men were shot dead and two others seriously wounded when they were attacked by two armed men in Thubelitsha, Delft, also on Sunday morning; while two teenage brothers were shot and killed at Site B, Khayelitsha, on Sunday afternoon.
“In all these criminal incidents and other murders recorded earlier in the week, firearms were used,” said provincial police spokeswoman Novela Potelwa.
“This reaffirms Major General Patekile’s determination to rid certain identified communities in the Western Cape of illegal firearms that contribute to violent crimes.”
Potelwa said Patekile was “convinced that intensified policing initiatives with community involvement will go a long way toward ensuring that all communities are and feel safe.”
“Last week, 30 illegal firearms and rounds of ammunition were seized and several arrests were made in various operations throughout the Western Cape.”
