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Gang brutality sparks Western Cape festive season fears after 12 killed in two ‘heinous’ mass shootings

Gang brutality sparks Western Cape festive season fears after 12 killed in two ‘heinous’ mass shootings
Suspected gangster Peter Jaggers. (Photo: Facebook)
Caryn Dolley
By Caryn Dolley
25 Oct 2024
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A week after the South African Police Service launched its festive season operational plan in the Western Cape, enthusing that the police would take an ‘aggressive stance’ on violent crime, 12 people were killed in two separate mass shootings that are suspected to be gang related.

At the one scene bodies were slumped around a cramped room. At the second, bodies were lying in and near cars on the side of a road.

This was the horrific aftermath of two separate mass shootings that played out in the Western Cape within about 24 hours and roughly 60km apart.


 

As of Friday, 25 October 2024, the police said a total of 12 people had been murdered, with six wounded.

Read more: The year of the bullet — South Africa rocked by mass shootings in 2023

Mass shootings have become a major problem in various provinces around South Africa.

Western Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Jaco Marais)



These have also surged in the Western Cape, which is known as South Africa’s gangsterism capital because of the high prevalence of related crime — including killings.

According to the most recently released official police crime statistics, Of the 270 gang-related murders recorded in the country over three months, 234 were in the Western Cape. The latest mass killings now probably add to that toll.

Gangs and an ‘aggressive SAPS stance’


While it was not immediately clear if this week’s two ambush shootings in the province had direct links, Daily Maverick understands there have recently been increased ructions among gangs in the Western Cape including the 28s, the Terrible Josters, the Americans and the Fancy Boys.

This has sparked volatility in different areas.

https://youtu.be/PGJQ2DYAgjw?feature=shared

That gang instability, along with the two mass killings, comes as the festive season, when crime usually increases around the country, is about to get into full swing. 

Last week, on 17 October, the South African Police Service (SAPS) launched its festive season operations in the Western Cape.

A statement on this served as an effective warning to criminals.

It said: “High density operations under the Operation Shanela umbrella, roadblocks, stop and searches and the tracking and tracing of wanted suspects will dominate this period, and an aggressive stance will be taken against serious and violent crimes so that the public can enjoy a peaceful holiday without the fear of crime.”

However, just a week later, the mass shootings took place – and some residents are becoming increasingly worried about their safety over the year-end holiday.

‘Reinforced deployments’


In the latest incident, Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said four men and three women, between 24 and 55 years old, were killed on the evening of Thursday, 24 October, in a shooting in Bishop Lavis.

Suspected gangster Peter Jaggers. (Photo: Facebook)



Daily Maverick has before reported that some parts of the suburb are 28s gang strongholds. One person survived the shooting, but was wounded.

“Police reports from the scene indicate that at approximately 8.40pm an armed suspect entered an informal dwelling in Kogelberg Street and fired several shots at the occupants,” Potelwa said. She added that the police had “reinforced deployments” in Bishop Lavis.

Police have confirmed that three suspects have been taken into custody, and will appear in court on Monday.

The mass shooting was the second in roughly 24 hours in the Western Cape.

Read more: ‘Gang culture’ fears after gunmen ambush three vehicles on road to Atlantis, instantly killing five young men

The day before, on Wednesday, five young men were killed and five others seriously wounded in a shooting in Atlantis, where gang violence has also been brewing.

Of that incident, Potelwa said the group had been ambushed while returning home from a beach. They had been in three vehicles “when yet-to-be-identified gunmen opened fire on the vehicles on the corner of Old Mamre and Silverstream Roads”.

‘Heinous acts’


Anti-Gang Unit detectives were investigating both the Bishop Lavis and the Atlantis mass shooting. 

Referencing the two incidents, Potelwa on Friday said: “Western Cape provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile has ordered that Anti-Gang Unit detectives spare no resources in getting to the perpetrators of the two heinous acts. 

“Both shooting incidents are believed to be gang related.”



While the police have not provided further details about what may have sparked the two mass murders, Daily Maverick understands there are some suspicions that the Bishop Lavis incident may tie into another matter involving drug money that some people owed.

Meanwhile, it is understood that the Atlantis mass killing could involve friction between the Americans, the Fancy Boys and the 28s gang.

Among those shot in the ambushes are believed to be individuals who may have had nothing to do with the reasons that fuelled the bullets fired into them.

‘Too many killings’


Lynn Phillips, from the Cape Flats Safety Forum, on Friday told Daily Maverick that the mass shootings were creating worries about whether gangs could be coming up with new initiation methods for recruits, including shooting groups of people.

While that was not proven, it was still concerning.

Phillips said the mass shootings also created the impression that the SAPS and Crime Intelligence officers “don’t have their fingers on the pulse as there are too many killings currently on a daily basis on the flats.”

She questioned how safe residents would be during the 2024 holiday period.

“We are in the festive season and crime is already so out of hand. What can we as citizens expect running up to December when our learners and families are on holiday?”

Read more: A week in the Western Cape — 54 guns seized, 52 people shot dead and anti-gang ‘lockdown’ proposed

Phillips added: “The SAPS really need to sharpen their skills in order to deal with this organised chaos. We cannot have conventional policing in unconventional situations.”

She urged residents to raise their concerns and suspicions where appropriate.

“I’m encouraging communities not to hide these serious matters… if we as communities are going to allow gangsters to control us, we will forever live in fear, and our children will grow up in conditions that are not conducive for their growth and development,” Phillips said.

Crime backdrop


Other violent incidents linked to the Western Cape have recently developed. Daily Maverick reported that last week the bodies of suspected Terrible Josters gang leader Peter Jaggers and his associate William Petersen, of Cape Town, were discovered in a Free State river after they had allegedly been kidnapped. 

The Terrible Josters gang is aligned with the 28s.

Read more: ‘Colombian cocaine kidnapping’ — how two bound and cuffed Cape Town men were found killed in Free State

Jaggers and Petersen were reported as missing about three months ago, in July. There were suspicions that the two were linked to a major cocaine consignment that was meant to be collected from Colombian traffickers off Cape Town’s coast earlier this year.

Read more: Dual legacies – Peter Jaggers’ death sparks divided opinions on gangsterism in Cape Town

It was suspected they had somehow angered the Colombian traffickers, who retaliated and kidnapped them in Gauteng.

Jaggers’ funeral was held on Monday, three days before the first of the week’s two mass shootings.

When Daily Maverick spoke to various sources about his murder, there were concerns about whether it would fuel more violence. DM

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