Cape Town - The Nyanga community is reeling after a 37-year-old man was shot and killed, allegedly by robbers, inside his home this morning.
The robbers made off with a television set and some household goods.
Residents were woken up by gunshots coming from the house on 4th Avenue. They said they were too scared to go see what was happening.
Reports suggest that the man tried fighting off the robbers. They then shot him and proceeded to ransack his home.
Nyanga CPF chairperson Dumisani Qwebe attended the scene where the incident happened.
“We were just talking about how calm Nyanga has become as there no shooting incidents in the past weeks. This has shocked everyone and it is sad that a life was taken in such a brutal manner by criminals targeting hard-working individuals.”
He called on the police to improve their reaction time and asked that they find the perpetrators.
“They must be brought to book, and I believe someone saw something but people are scared to come out due to safety concerns. The community and the police must find ways to guarantee the safety of whistle-blowers.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said they were working around the clock in trying to find the killers.
“The circumstances surrounding the death of a 37-year-old man are being investigated after he was shot and killed at his residence in 4th Avenue Nyanga this morning, during a house robbery. The suspects fled with a television (set) and household goods and are yet to be arrested.”
Meanwhile, MEC of Community Safety Albert Fritz is demanding greater policing resources for the Western Cape in light of many murders that took place over the past weekend.
Four people were killed in Wellington, while police were investigating the disappearance of another four people in Mfuleni.
It is alleged that the disappearance of the four is linked to a case of mob justice. While searching for the four, police discovered the bodies of two unidentified victims who are not part of the missing four.
In a separate incident, the body of a 27-year-old woman was discovered burnt in Paarl. The community allegedly destroyed the suspect’s shack and his car.
“We refuse to normalise the criminality we see on our streets. We refuse to become desensitised to it. The crime on our streets is outrageous and, as the provincial government, we are demanding greater policing resources in the Western Cape, so that the SAPS can be more effective in fighting crime,” said Fritz.
“We are determined to bring down these figures, and we are going to fight every fight that we have to in order to do just that. Practically, I am going to instruct my department to follow up on all these cases as far as we can in terms of our current powers.
“We have an advocate who works with gender-based violence cases in the Court Watching Brief Unit, and my hope is that he will assist in attaining justice for that woman. And our LEAP Officers are going to continue their work of bringing greater visible policing to our communities. But we need more SAPS resources in this province. That remains the unavoidable reality.”
Weekend Argus