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Deadly weekend in Khayelitsha as nine are gunned down

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Six people have been gunned down in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape in the past 24 hours. In the latest confirmed incident, an adult male was gunned down in TT section in the area. On Saturday night, five people were shot and killed in separate incidents in Khayelitsha.

Police say three men aged between 34 and 50 were killed by unknown gunmen in Site C on the corner of Nyebelele and Ntango streets. The motive for this attack is not known yet.
They say the other shooting last night in Makhaza and Harare, which claimed two lives, could be linked to the drug trade.

Police in the Western Cape say they are trying to find the motives for the shootings in Khayelitsha this weekend. A total of nine people are reported to have been killed in the province this weekend, after three more people were killed in Citrusdal on the West Coast yesterday.

In all these cases, police are searching for clues while not ruling out gangsterism and extortion. Scores of people have died in mass shootings in Khayelitsha since the beginning of the year.

“The police are following all leads to come to the bottom of the spate of crimes in the area”,says Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile.

Western Cape MEC for Community Safety Reagan Allen adds, “We are working closely with the police to root out crime in hot spots areas in the province”

Meanwhile, community members are feeling unsafe and are fearing for their lives.

“Each and every day we hear some guns so we don’t know whats going on. We can’t blame the police, on the other hand police can’t be all over the show in Khayelisha” says concerned resident Sbongile Mhlatywa.

“I think government should try something else because people are getting shot at and it’s very painful because I really think government should get involved and try resolve crime”, says another resident Anelisa Ludziya.

Meanwhile, police say they’ve arrested 472 wanted suspects during tracing operations in the past week.

The suspects were wanted on a range of charges including murder, attempted murder, assault and possession of drugs and firearms.

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