Cape Town police say seven people have been arrested for separate suspected gang murders and attempted murder at Manenberg on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape.
Police say they are currently verifying whether some of them are linked to Thursday’s killing of a pregnant woman who died after being hit by a stray bullet in the area.
Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk says members of the Anti-Gang Unit carried out an intelligence operation due to ongoing shootings in Thambo Village. He says the murder victim was on her way to buy electricity.
Police found three people – one male and two females aged between 22 and 29 – in possession of a prohibited firearm, the firearm was confiscated and booked in as exhibit.
The firearm will be sent for ballistic test to determine if it was used in the commission of crime.
Four other between the ages of 18 and 28 were arrested and further information gathered identified the perpetrators as members of a local gang.
Members of the South African National Defence Force have been deployed for three months to assist the police in stemming the blood flow in Manenberg, as well as Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Elsies River, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Philippi and Kraaifontein.
According to statistics, these 10 most gang-ridden precincts in Cape Town contributed to 42% of attempted murders in the province.
