‘Retaliation killings’ sink gang peace bid

Manenberg in lockdown following rival shootings since last week

MANENBERG Crisis Forum said promises of gang peace talks had been broken due to tit-for-tat shootings.

The area has been on lockdown since the shootings began last week.

Crisis forum chairperson Roegshanda Pascoe said peace talks were supposed to have been held yesterday after weeks of ongoing violence.

“We are so hopeless that even if the talks do happen, we know they will shoot again in retaliation, depending on which rival last claimed a life.

“Retaliation shootings have been the norm since the gang violence flared up and there have been so many murders,” Pascoe said.

An alleged hit man for one of the gangs was shot dead in Renoster Walk at the weekend.

Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the 38-year-old man was shot, while another man was injured.

“Circumstances surrounding a shooting incident on Sunday at about 9.05pm, where a 38-year-old man was (killed) and a 24-year-old man wounded, are under investigation.

“The two men were reportedly standing on the stairway at an address in Renoster Walk when unidentified males walked towards them.

“One suspect then pulled out a firearm and fired several shots at the victims, hitting the (now deceased) several times in the upper body.

“He collapsed and died on the scene,” Van Wyk said.

The injured man was taken to a nearby hospital.

A case of murder and attempted murder has been opened for investigation and no arrests had been made.

In a separate incident in Bishop Lavis, police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said two men, one believed to be a leader of a local gang, appeared in court yesterday morning for allegedly violating his bail conditions and for possession of an illegal firearm.

“Two men, aged 29 and 37, were brought to book on April 14 at 1.30pm by police deployed in the Bishop Lavis area.

“Police pulled over a suspicious motor vehicle in Angela Road and arrested the two men.

“One of the suspects, a 37-year-old man, is known to SAPS members.

“He is the leader of a local gang and his present bail conditions prohibit him from being in the Bishop Lavis precinct.

“He was arrested for the contravention of his bail conditions,” Rwexana said.

The other man was arrested for the alleged illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.