Chaos, blood and a high-speed chase as injured gangsters force their way into EC hospital

The Eastern Cape’s busiest and biggest casualty unit went into lockdown on Saturday afternoon after a bakkie full of bloodied and shot young men arrived at the unit having forced their way into the hospital to look for help. 

“The situation is under control,” Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said by 3pm on Saturday. Earlier, a group of alleged gang members who were shot while riding on the back of a bakkie had forced their way into Livingstone Hospital for treatment.

The incident was initially reported as a shooting at the hospital, but Kupelo said there were no shots fired. He said the high-speed chase and the trail of blood left by the badly injured patients had caused much alarm at the unit.

“What caused alarm was that the bakkie arrived at a very high speed at the hospital and was being followed by the police,” he said.

Community members said the blue bakkie was earlier seen at the St Michael Church in Schauderville, near the hospital, where a funeral was taking place.

One eyewitness at the hospital described the scene as follows: 

“Just before I left the hospital around noon, a 4x4 bakkie with no canopy, full of youngsters at the back, came to casualty at a very high speed. Three of them had sustained gunshot wounds. They were shot while at the back of the bakkie in Schauderville on the way back from a funeral. 

“When they entered the hospital, the police followed them and are still there. Three of the patients were badly affected - two had gunshots to the head and one was shot in the leg.

“The incident created a scary scene in casualty as everyone ran for cover and screamed for help. The situation is currently under control, and casualty staff remained calm and managed the situation very well,” the witness said.

While it was initially reported that the men were shot in the casualty unit, Kupelo said they did not believe the men came to the hospital to carry on the shooting. He said they came for help, and the situation was being managed by both health personnel and the police. 

“They were not armed because they were not ready for a fight as they came from a funeral,” he said. 

The hospital went on lockdown on Saturday afternoon.

“The doors are closed, visitors are not allowed, but relatives coming to drop things are allowed, quickly escorted in and out,” he said. “The police are monitoring the situation.”

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said detectives were investigating a case of attempted murder.

"It is alleged that at approximately 11:30, the victims were in a Ford Ranger, double cab, and as they approached Jameson and Wild streets in Schauderville, suspects fired multiple shots at the occupants. The driver sped off. He was shot in the right lower leg, while two other occupants also sustained gunshot wounds. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing."

While the motive of the shooting is unclear, some were saying it is linked to gang activity.

Nelson Mandela Bay has been in the grip of gang warfare in recent months.

Official trauma statistics from the Livingstone Hospital casualty unit show that it had treated patients from 35 shooting incidents in the first 28 days of December. Another resident from Schauderville said gang conflict and shootings had flared up again in the past two weeks.

Despite a successful motion by the Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape legislature, the Community Safety MEC, Xolile Nqatha, has not yet convened a crime and safety summit in Nelson Mandela Bay to curb ongoing gang violence.

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The summit was meant to include the SAPS, NMB Safety and Security, Provincial Safety and Security, the Hawks, Crime Intelligence, Ipid, Correctional Services, National Prosecuting Authority, and neighbourhood watch groups, patrols, CPFs, councillors, church leaders as well as NGOs and NPOs working in the northern areas of Gqeberha.

Last year, 180 people were killed in gang shootings in Nelson Mandela Bay. Twenty-two of them were children. DM