-
Forensic officials hold a meeting outside a tavern, the scene of an early morning shooting in Bekkersdal
The gruesome mass shooting that claimed nine lives and left ten others wounded in Bekkersdal on Gauteng’s West Rand has left the community devastated and reeling in shock.
An eyewitness, who hid behind a door during the attack at KwaNoxolo Tavern, says about 10 suspects arrived in a white Quantum and a silver sedan before opening fire on patrons and continued to shoot randomly as they fled.
Gauteng police have launched a manhunt and are following leads from several eyewitnesses as they work to track down the suspects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5WHyjGTX-8
More police visibility
The community of Tambo informal settlement in Bekkersdal are calling for more police visibility following the brutal killing of nine people at KwaNoxolo tavern in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Sandile Mahlangu, who has lived in this area for more than 10 years, has called for more police visibility, saying this is not the first such incident. Mahlangu says the area has become a war zone and resident no longer feel safe.
“We are pleading with General Kekana, beyond deploying more number of police, may he please maybe speak with IPID to come and make investigations from his police station in Bekkersdal because the problem is that the police are working with criminals. And these criminals they do as they please. They carry guns ask they please. No one is doing anything about it and the leadership around has tried to do whatever they can do. But because there is no efforts from the police side, there is little… Of course, we see random raids operations. They don’t have much effect to our safety.”
Investigations
Gauteng Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner Major General Fred Kekana says Specialist Police Units have been dispatched to work on the case.
“As we speak now the serious violent team from the province with the detectives they are busy working together obtaining statements and our crime intelligence they’re also here on the ground to ensure that all this information and sources and informers are approached to gather more information and on top of that our provincial tracking team is on the ground, they arrived on the scene.”
Kekana says the evidence they find on the crime scene such as fingerprints and cartridges will play a critical role in linking suspect to other murder cases.
“That’s where the linkage is and the identification of firearms coem in because out of each cartridge it can tell you if the firearm that was used is aspecific firearm linked to other incidents not neccesarily this one.”
The Deputy Executive Mayor of Rand West Municipality, Nontombi Molahleki, has criticised the slow police response to the Bekkersdal mass shooting. She says the local police station is overstretched, as it is responsible for servicing four other areas.
“This community of crying out for help everyday on social media as there is a festival of gunshots in this area and a incident happened in the Manfdela area not far from here. Where we are standing at the poice Station is not far and with the police Sation it is indeed a problem because we have a police Staion that is servicing more thatn four ares and all ofthiose ares are big.”
Police says the motive ofthe killing is still unknown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFOjoZyEr1c
