A father was killed while at his son’s funeral in Ravensmead, Cape Town. Picture: Supplied
Police have said that they are monitoring the gang-related incidents of crime and violence that occurred over the weekend in the City.
SAPS spokesperson, F.C Van Wyk said that Ravensmead police are investigating two separate murder cases after a shooting incident on Saturday morning at Beverly Court.
“A 54-year-old man was shot and fatally wounded by a 26-year-old man. The alleged shooter was beaten to death at the scene of the incident. The motive is believed to be gang related.
“According to reports the deceased attended his son’s funeral at the mentioned address when the suspect shot and fatally wounded him with a gunshot wound to the back of the head. The suspect then ran away but was chased and apprehended by the community who attended the funeral, he was beaten to death,” Van Wyk said.
Grassy Park police are also investigating a murder and four attempted murder cases after a shooting at Dove Road, Parkwood on Friday. A 52-year-old man was shot and killed, and four others injured.
Van Wyk said the injured victims were transported to a medical facility for treatment.
“According to reports, SAPS members attended a shooting incident at the mentioned address and discovered that five persons were shot and three already taken to hospitals. It's alleged that a Grey Polo vehicle (was at the scene) and a male person started shooting randomly at the victims. The motive is believed to be gang related.”
This follows a shooting on Thursday evening when a 42-year-old man died after a drive-by shooting.
“Grassy Park police are investigating a murder case. The motive is believed to be gang related,” Van Wyk said.
Speaking on the Ravensmead shooting, National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams said that for a family to lose a son is tragic enough, and to lose a father on the day of the funeral through what appears to be gang violence is “an indictment of where we are at as a community”.
“I think we’ve got to the point where we ‘the element’ no longer respect parents, or religious institutions like churches. I think the response from the community is hard to condemn, even if it is illegal, because I can just imagine the anger of the family that such a brazen act would happen on the day of the funeral… And the sad thing is that it’s not going to get any better.”
Adams said there is absolutely no political will to deal with the issue of gang violence, and the systemic causes of it.
“2025 is probably only going to get worse if you look at how the year has begun. There is no end in sight at this point.”
Grassy Park CPF spokesperson, Howard Downs, said that the community is in fear of reprisal attacks.
“Gang violence is something that we can’t predict, but there is a trend in the way that when one grouping is shot, we definitely expect reprisal attacks. With that said, this has been ongoing in the area currently where gangsters have been shooting at each other, and we know for a fact, as trends have shown us, that there will be reprisal attacks.
“When will it stop, we don’t know, but we will continue monitoring the areas and doing our visible patrols.”
Western Cape Community Safety MEC, Anroux Marais has condemned the senseless killings.
“The ongoing gang violence instilling fear in communities like Ravensmead and Lotus River is perpetuated by the easy access to illegal firearms. I urge the police to decisively deal with those using illegal guns to terrorize our communities. They must be apprehended and successfully prosecuted.”
Marias said in Ravensmead and Lotus River, the police sent members of the Public Order Police, Anti-Gang Unit and Operation Shanela forces to stabilise the affected areas. Provincial detectives are also assisting with the investigation of the case dockets.
“I also appeal to communities not to take the law into their own hands and to allow the authorities to bring the perpetrators to book.”
Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lt General Thembisile Patekile said that in response to the shootings, deployments were enhanced at identified hotspots.
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za