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Bullets seen at the crime scene.
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has called on police to intensify action to combat the circulation of illegal firearms in Westbury, south of Johannesburg.
This comes after seven teenagers were shot on Tuesday in what is believed to be a gang-related incident.
Two of the victims were declared dead on arrival at hospital, while five others remain in hospital.
“We call upon SAPS to immediately intensify and sustain targeted operations to locate, confiscate, and destroy the vast number of illegal firearms in circulation in Westbury and across Gauteng. A centralised and urgent audit of firearms lost from state institutions and private security companies must be prioritised. The Committee reiterates its call for SAPS to begin reporting detailed statistics on crimes committed using firearms. We further call for strengthened support for initiatives such as Gun Free South Africa,” says Portfolio Committee Chairperson Dr Bandile Masuku.
VIDEO | Police arrive at the scene of the shooting:
Gangs in Westbury
A community member who does not want to be identified for fear of victimisation has told SABC News that drug lords are using young boys to attack each other in the fight for territory in Westbury.
The woman says the drug lords are known to the community.
“Seven of our boys were shot. Two died and five are fighting for their lives in hospital, ages from 15 to 19. The 19-year-old is also one of those who died. Gang-related drugs, old men using young boys to do the dirty work for them, giving them money and they target young boys who live in poverty and do not go to school. They give them R250 to go and shoot somebody.”
VIDEO | Major General Fred Kekana says police operations have been conducted in Westbury:
