Staggering 738 gunshot cases in Bay

Townships and northern areas ganglands hardest hit in metro

It cut down the frequency of shootings in Cape Town. We hope this will work here

STATE ambulances responded to a staggering 738 gunshot callouts in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro in the first 11 months of the year. Of those, 188 people were declared dead by paramedics, almost one firearm fatality every two days.

Statistics show the city’s townships and northern areas ganglands were the hardest hit.

And the burden of responding to these cases has taken a toll on emergency services staff, provincial Emergency Medical Services (EMS) director A K Munilall said.

They have 15 to 18 ambulances a shift covering the entire municipality.

“As a result, our staff have faced abuse from the public for arriving late,” he said.

“EMS staff, themselves, have been held at gunpoint and robbed of their belongings.

“This trend has severely traumatised them to the extent that we had to seek help for them.”

Eighteen ambulances were attacked last year and 16 this year.

Munilall said 10 staff members serving the Bay area had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“These staff members cannot work on the ambulances and must be accommodated elsewhere,” he said.

EMS was in constant engagement with police, ward councillors and communities to help reduce gun crime.

Bay safety and security mayoral committee member John Best said the metro was putting its faith in a hi-tech solution called ShotSpotter, an instrument that triangulates gunshots to within a few metres of where they go off.

“I [have] received a quote from a company that installed the system elsewhere in the country,” he said.

“We will talk to businesses in the new year to get funds for a six-month trial.

“If it is successful, we will get additional funding through other means.”

The cost is about R400 000 for a sixmonth pilot project.

Best said he had seen the system at work in Cape Town and it was amazing.

“The system identifies where a shot has gone off by means of sound detection,” he said. “It cut down the frequency of shootings in Cape Town. We hope this will work here.”

However, it is too late for a number of Port Elizabeth families.

Ruwayne Witbooi became a fresh statistic when his body was found yesterday, with a single gunshot wound to the head.

“This still feels so unreal,” Witbooi’s aunt, Hermien, said at her Kleinskool home shortly afterwards.

Outside, Witbooi’s cousin was on the phone, struggling to break the news to their grandmother in Pearson.

Witbooi, 29, who was also known as Piekkie, lived with his aunt.

His body was found in an open field in Booysen Park shortly after 4am.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the circumstances of his death were unclear, but the murder was being treated as a gang-related incident.

Hermien, 49, said: “Piekkie was an artist, a ladies’ man. He never hurt anyone.

“I can’t believe he was involved with gangs. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Witbooi’s uncle, Marchelle Williams, 53, said the family would probably never know why he was killed.

He said gang and gun violence in their

area was getting out of hand.

“The other night, a guy just fired a shot into the air in front of my house, for no reason,” Williams said.

“After 9pm, you have to lock yourself in the house because it’s just not safe anymore.”

In Helenvale, Bernard Valentine, 56, and Maureen Mintoor, 57, are still coming to terms with their losses.

Their youngest son, Tiaan Mintoor, 18, was gunned down outside his Ibex Street home in March last year.

Then, a few days after the one-year anniversary of his death this year, his brother Gregory was shot dead at the property next door.

“I am very unhappy, but also fearful of this gun violence, because it has already caused so much pain in our family,” Valentine said.

“They [shooters] have also been targeting my home. Just look at my appliances, they are full of bullet holes.”

He fears for the safety of his remaining family.

“There are certain areas of Helenvale where we are not allowed to walk because it belongs to another gang,” Valentine said.

A Kwazakhele resident, who asked not to be named, said that without the support of the residents, no concrete plan could be forged to eradicate the problem.

The 60-year-old Merele Street resident said he had been caught in the crossfire earlier this year and was shot in the leg.

He called on the police and residents to work together to bring the criminals to book.