Hout Bay residents up in arms over four murders in six weeks
‘We can mourn them by name and stand up as a community and demand justice’
FOUR murders in six weeks has left Hout Bay residents reeling as a wave of crime continues to sweep through the area.
Grade 10 Camps Bay High School pupil Kwekwe Lindokuhle Ngetu, 16, and a barista at a coffee chain, Calvin Roji, 22, were both stabbed to death in separate incidents in Hout Bay on Saturday.
Police spokeswoman Noloyiso Rwexana said: “The circumstances surrounding the murders of two males at Hout Bay on 26 July, 2015 is being investigated. No one has been arrested at this stage.”
Camps Bay High School principal David de Korte described Ngetu’s death as “a tragedy”.
“It’s just so pointless. He (Ngetu) went out to buy electricity and was robbed of R100. How do you even make sense of this?”
He said that the school has arranged counselling sessions for pupils and are planning a memorial for Ngetu.
Roji’s manager, who did not want to be named, said he was well liked and had been working at the Hout Bay branch of the coffee chain for two years.
He said that the vibe at the store “was missing” after staff had heard of Roji’s murder.
Hout Bay Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairman JJ de Villiers said the murders of Ngetu and Roji follow those of Nchikala Ngoy and another high school pupil known only as Monezi.
De Villiers said Monezi was murdered six weeks ago and Ngoy was stabbed to death on July 8.
The bodies of all four victims were found less than 100m from Hout Bay police station near a local clinic.
Residents and community organisations have blamed youth gangs operating from Imizamo Yethu informal settlement for the murders and ongoing robberies in the area.
De Villiers said: “The CPF would like to express its sincere condolences to the family and friends who lost loved ones in this tragic incident during the early hours of Saturday morning and encourage anyone with information to please contact police.”
Hout Bay resident Norman Brook said: “It would appear that two good people were murdered by youth gangs in Imizamo Yethu.
“As a community, we should know who they were. Not just their names but also their backgrounds, their dreams, their hopes.
“They should not be nameless victims who by nature of being trapped in the poverty of the township remain simply another statistic.
“The least we can do for them is to mourn for them by name and stand up as a community and demand justice in their names.”
Hout Bay Residents and Ratepayers’ Association chairman Len Swimmer said the real problem in the area is that police are understaffed.
“If one takes into account the amount of residents in Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu and the rate of crime, it is clear that more police resources are needed in the area,” he said.
Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk denied this, saying: “Adequate resources are allocated to Hout Bay SAPS to police the area effectively.”
Rwexana said that anyone with information on the two murders is requested to contact the investigating officer, Constable Thabo Hokoza, at 021 791 8660.