Cape Town - The Gugulethu Development Forum (GDF) has expressed frustration over shootings and brazen criminals who rob people in their homes after a 56-year-old woman was shot and killed in her house at the weekend.
NY 50 residents are still reeling in shock following the murder at about 8.30am on Friday.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the woman was shot during an apparent robbery at her home and was later admitted to hospital where she died due to her wounds.
“The circumstances (leading) to the incident are being investigated and arrests are yet to be made,” said Traut.
Gugulethu is ranked 20 in the top 30 stations in the country where robberies at premises take place, according to the fourth-quarter crime statistics. The station also made it to the country’s top 30 stations in contact crimes such as sexual offences and sexual assault.
The area has also seen a number of mass shootings with the recent resulting in three people killed and two wounded.
GDF spokesperson Lumkile Mzukwa said confidence in police was at “an all-time low” due to the lack of arrests.
“We condemn this merciless killing of a woman and all other murders in this community. Our area has once again been left shaken and traumatised. Faith and trust in police just keeps on declining due to these violent incidents. Criminals used to attack people in their homes at night out of fear that they would be caught however times have changed. They have proven to be brazen in many incidents now.
“Home invasions and attacks in people's homes happen daily, especially by these Toyota Avanza guys. I don’t even want to talk about robberies on the streets, it has become a norm,” said Mzukwa.
Their police station appeared to be overwhelmed, he said.
“We are busy brainstorming what action we can make and also preparing letters to ministries making calls for interventions.”
In the neighbouring Nyanga, police were on a manhunt for suspects who shot and killed a 65-year-old woman on Thursday night after storming into her home while searching for a “cellphone thief”.
Ilitha Labantu's spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said: “We are deeply concerned by the spike in femicide cases in the Gugulethu, Nyanga and greater Cape Flats region. These incidents serve as an indicator of the type of society we are living in, as violence and crime has been left to grow rampant, government and police need to work closer with communities to help curb this senseless violence. We strongly appeal to communities to play a stronger role in helping to root out this evil by also working with police and other safety structures.”
Anyone with information about these incidents can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 0860010111 or use the MySaps mobile app.
Cape Times