News24 | Two more people killed hours after top cops visit Mitchells Plain crime scene

Mitchells Plain police station.

• Two men were shot and killed on Friday night in Mitchells Plain.
• The latest killings come just hours after the police’s top brass visited the area.
• No arrests have yet been made.

Just a mere four hours after Western Cape top cops visited the crime scene where five people were shot dead the previous day, another two people were shot and killed on Friday night.

Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile along with Mitchells Plain police station commander, Brigadier Brian Muller, an entourage of more than 30 police and City of Cape Town law enforcement officers patrolled the area on Friday in an attempt to restore calm after five people had been killed on Thursday.

Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said that just after 20:00 on Friday, two men, aged 21 and 22 were shot and killed, while a 26-year-old was shot and injured in San Francisco Street, Portland, Mitchells Plain.

“According to reports, SAPS members received a complaint of a shooting at the mentioned address and on arrival at the scene they found the bodies of two males with multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and head.

“Both victims were declared deceased by medical personnel.The unknown assailant/s fled the scene and are yet to be arrested,” said Van Wyk.

Police said the motive for the attack now forms part of the police investigation.

Meanwhile, Thanaa Ganie, a family friend of the two murdered men said they “were not gang members” and were at the “wrong place” at the wrong time.

Ganie described the men as “good sons, friends and fathers”.

“As a close friend of the lives that we lost last night, they were not gangsters. It was simply a situation of wrong place at the wrong time. They were innocent,” said Ganie.

Earlier that day the police’s top cops briefed the media on the ongoing gang violence between rival gangs in the area.

Patekile alluded to Thursday’s deadly shootings being the result of a dispute between two rival gangs, whose members are reportedly related to one another.

The police are on the hunt for two gang members who are said to be behind the deadly attacks in the area.

“We know who we are looking for,” said Patekile.

Cape Flats Safety Forum spokesperson Lynn Phillips said Mitchells Plain is under siege due to gang violence.

“We have been requesting the defence force to be deployed to the Cape Flats so that they can retrieve the unlicensed firearms plaguing our communities,” said Phillips.

She has called on the police to ensure the safety of the community.

“We are living in fear, our residents cannot leave their homes because of these unnecessary shootings taking place in the areas,” said Phillips.

Mitchells Plain police station commander Brigadier Brian Muller has vowed to clamp down on the criminality in the community, adding that the “safety of residents” remains the police’s top priority,

Anyone with information regarding Friday’s shooting, can call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.