CAPE TOWN – Western Cape police have uncovered a shocking motive behind the series of shootings that terrorised Mitchells Plain on Thursday: a domestic dispute between rival gang members who are also related through marriage. The revelation comes as police intensify their efforts to stabilise the area and bring those responsible to justice.
Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, speaking during a visit to the Mitchells Plain police station, revealed that the violence stemmed from a conflict between in-laws, both allegedly holding high-ranking positions in opposing gangs. The initial spark, a seemingly contained domestic squabble, quickly spiralled into a deadly rampage that left residents fearing for their lives.
"It would have been difficult to anticipate that this was going to happen, because it started as a domestic fight between two related leaders from different opposing gangs within the same family," Patekile explained. "It escalated to the point where we lost many lives and many more were injured."
The shootings unfolded across Mitchells Plain, with victims targeted at or near spaza shops in Beacon Valley and Town Centre. In one particularly brazen attack, a victim was shot inside their own home, through a window, highlighting the ruthless nature of the violence.
"Currently, of the 19 in the cells, five are connected to other cases. Two of them have been arrested for illegal possession of firearms, one for illegal possession of ammunition, and the other two for cases being investigated in the area," Patekile confirmed.
To quell the violence and restore a sense of security to the community, police have deployed nearly 100 additional officers to high-risk areas, including Beacon Valley and Westridge. This deployment is in addition to the existing joint operation with the City of Cape Town, which has seen more than 400 officers deployed to hotspot stations since 1 June. These stations account for over 70 percent of gang-related incidents in the province, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing law enforcement.
While Patekile declined to publicly name the gang leaders involved, stating "I'm not going to promote them. They are just criminals," he did shed light on the broader context of the violence. "This started small between family in-laws, then escalated and dragged in others, leading to what we saw," he explained. He also noted that investigations into possible motives included extortion and hit-style killings, suggesting a complex web of factors contributing to the bloodshed.
The revelation of a domestic dispute as the trigger for such widespread violence has raised questions about the underlying social dynamics at play in Mitchells Plain. The fact that gang leaders are related through marriage speaks to the deeply entrenched nature of gang culture within the community and the challenges of breaking the cycle of violence.
The police are keenly focused on stabilising the area and making arrests, and Patekile said that SAPS welcomed any support that may arise from a possible deployment of the military, but emphasised that, operationally, they remained focused on stabilisation and arrests.
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