Cape Town police have launched search operations for the killers of three people in Gugulethu.
The assailants came in a white Toyota Corolla, opened fire on a group of five people killing two men, one woman and two others severely wounded on Sunday night on the corners of Malunga Street and NY8.
The two wounded men aged 32 and 33 were transported to a medical facility. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said a 72-hour activation plan to probe the circumstances leading to the murders and the attempted murder had been implemented. No arrest has been made so far.
The devastated family of 23-year-old Vathiswa Langa say their daughter was “at the wrong place at the wrong time” when the gunmen arrived the Malunga Park at about 8pm on Sunday.
Langa and the two men have since been identified as Lefa Ngulube, 31, and Kabelo Molelle ,19. Langa’s cousin, Sikho Langa said they rushed to the scene after residents informed the family about the incident.
“Residents went to inform the family that she was lying on the street and shot. As the family we called each other and went to the scene to confirm if it was really her. We have been informed that people in a car were searching for someone they wanted and spotted him there on the street. However he managed to evade them and ran away.
“The vehicle of the suspects turned back in anger of not catching the person they wanted and randomly fired shots. It is still unbelievable and we are calling for no stone to be left unturned. Justice must prevail.”
The young mother of a 4-year-old child has been described as a bubbly and good-hearted person who was full of life.
In the past three years, Gugulethu had been engulfed by regular merciless mass killings, said Gugulethu Development Forum (GDF) spokesperson Lumkile Mzukwa.
Mzukwa said the community had been left frightened and traumatised by daily robberies and random killings on the streets.
“We are calling for the might and competency of the SAPS to investigate this heinous act. We need the report as soon as possible, in terms of who are the continuous perpetrators of these crimes. We have gone as far as contacting Police Minister Bheki Cele, for his intervention noting that the Gugulethu Police Station does not have the necessary capacity in combating crime,” he said.
Some of those shot were “not clean, one was out on bail,” said Cele. He said police were probing if it was revenge killing, extortion or gang-related.
Meanwhile, Lwandle in Strand has also been riddled with mass shootings, with its police station recording an 81.3% murder increase during the fourth quarter crime statistics.
Community leaders in Lwandle have since called for increased vigilante, policing after two Somali shopkeepers were shot dead last week allegedly by suspected extortionists.
Bodies of two men were also found with gunshot wounds on April 12 and May 8.