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Police cordon off the area where Gugulethu’s shooting occurred while family members and the community watch. Eight people were shot to death in a home in NY78. (Photo: Fanie Jason)
The Gugulethu killings on Monday, November 2, 2020, are a taste of what is to come, the feared Boko Haram gang warned in a video message that has circulated widely among Cape Flats communities.
Eight people between the ages of 30 and 40 died when two gunmen entered a house in NY78, Gugulethu, on Monday night and fired indiscriminately at the occupants.
The perpetrators fled the scene in a waiting car. The crime is believed to have been premeditated.
In the clip, the gang warns that this is a taste of things to come in the run-up to the holiday season.
The police were silent at the beginning of the investigation into the shooting.
Residents of Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Crossroads, Nyanga and Browns Farm say the massacre is likely related to the Boko Haram gang’s attempt to extort money from shebeens, spazas and other businesses.
The Guptas gang is also allegedly part of this fledgling criminal network, but to a lesser extent.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a businessman from Gugulethu said: “The Boko Haram gang is behind the series of kidnappings, murders, extortion of property owners, theft of cash in transit and demanding protection money.
“They have control of drugs, weapons and everything that is illegal in the municipalities. This gang caused chaos in most of the informal settlements in Cape Town and they have also spread their wings for George. “
The businessman says the gang was formed four years ago and that calls for help from the community, including Police Minister Bheki Cele, have not been heeded.
People in Cape Town municipalities were afraid of the Boko Haram gang, he said, and only taxi associations brave enough to stand up to them. However, elements of the taxi industry could be just as brutal, he said, and he would not hesitate to retaliate.
“The residents of the municipalities are so scared that many are thinking about moving to a safer place. Somali, Nigerian and Chinese businessmen are at the mercy of these thugs. It’s a case of ‘pay or they’ll kill you’. I am afraid that the streets of the municipalities are going to be strewn with corpses, ”said the businessman.
Police spokesman Brigadier Novela Potelwa said the provincial organized crime unit was investigating the massacre.
Meanwhile, the communities of parts ravaged by cape flats gangs agree that the violence that erupted in Gugulethu will likely spread to Manenberg, Heideveld, Hanover Park, Lavender Hill, Elsies River, Valhalla Park, Bishop Lavis, Belhar and Mitchells Plain.
There are fears of violence during the holiday season.
“Covid-19 regulations have robbed various drug lords and gangs of millions of rand. They were unable to transport their drug shipments and used corrupt policemen as transporters, ”said an anonymous resident.
With relaxed regulations, an all-out war for drug turf is feared in all gang-ravaged areas.
“The The unfortunate victims will be innocent children and individuals.. Drug dealers must make up for this before Christmas when buyers run out of cash, ”said the community member.
Byron de Villiers from the Lentegeur Community Police Forum (CPF) said: “Last year, this time, we had seven murders a day and in two weeks 27 people died. At this time of year it is an open market for suspected drug lords.
“They are targeting vulnerable people who are willing to do anything. We know the attack is coming, but we cannot say when and exactly when the bullets will fly. “
Hanover Park CPF spokesman Ebrahim Abrahams said the trend of violence occurs every year, in all gang-infested areas. The planning, he said, is done within the prison walls, where the 28, 26 and other gangs conspire who must be removed.
“We have noticed that every time a person gets out of jail, problems seem to follow him and that person brings the heat with him. The turf wars and violent clashes in the areas are driven by drug dealers eager to earn more and more money.
“[In] last week, six people have already died in Hanover Park and our biggest fear is that this number could be in the double digits during the holiday season, ”Abrahams said.
Meanwhile, in Manenberg, two people were shot dead and a woman returning from church suffered a severe asthma attack from the impact of the violence. She died at the scene.
One of the shooting victims was Gershwin Arendse, 19, who was sleeping in his Wendy home when a bullet struck him in the head Monday night.
She enrolled in the Mary Harding School for Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Belgravia in 2019.
Manenberg activist Roegchanda Pascoe said: “The situation in Manenberg is very volatile and especially for our children. It’s recruiting time and students are forced to join Hard Livings (HL), Americans, Fancy Boys, or Jesters Kids. Students who refuse will be eliminated.
“On Tuesday [27 October 2020] Panicked parents had to duck and dive while fetching their children after school, and rival gangs showed no mercy. “
With Manenberg labeled a red zone for ambulances as emergency vehicles that cannot enter without police protection, Pascoe warned that the lives of women who give birth at home, the sick and the elderly are in danger.
It’s not because ambulance drivers don’t want to go into gang-infested areas, but flying bullets keep them out, he concluded. DM / MC
