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High-ranking cops sent to Nelson Mandela Bay as bloodbath continues 

High-ranking cops sent to Nelson Mandela Bay as bloodbath continues 
Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)
Estelle Ellis
By Estelle Ellis
20 Aug 2024
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The slaughter of four young men in a house in Bethelsdorp on Monday brings to seven the number of people killed in gun violence in Nelson Mandela Bay since a visit on Friday by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said on Tuesday 20 August that “multidisciplinary teams” have been deployed to prevent, combat, investigate and arrest those behind gang violence and extortion in the Eastern Cape. 

“Three senior officers consisting of the head of organised crime, specialised operations and intelligence from SAPS national headquarters have been deployed to the province, each with dedicated teams under their command. 

“On the ground is a team of detectives from organised crime as well as the serious and violent crime unit, operatives from the National Intervention Unit as well as Crime Intelligence officers who will work alongside and augment the province’s existing capacity in dealing decisively with ‘protection fee gangs’,” said SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.

Areas known for gang violence in Nelson Mandela Bay have been riven by violence since Friday when Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and Masemola visited the metro. 

Gqeberha shootings Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu listening to the testimonies of crime victims in Gqeberha on Friday 16 August. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)



Neighbourhood Watch coordinator Leeanne Moodley said they had seen reports of 33 people being gunned down during August in the metro’s northern areas.

Read more: Hundreds of crime victims and community leaders turn up to speak to Minister Mchunu


Police spokesperson Andre Beetge said the killing of four young men in a house in Bethelsdorp occurred just before 11pm on Monday. No arrests have been made.

Beetge said police have information that a 26-year-old victim was at home when armed men came to his door. They were accompanied by three other men. All four were taken to the lounge where they were shot dead. 

When the suspects left the scene, they torched a Mercedes-Benz vehicle that was parked in front of the house, Beetge added.

Then, on Saturday, the bodies of two men were found in Missionvale. Both had been shot.

‘The innocent are suffering’


Moodley, who is also the ward councillor in the Bethelsdorp area, said there were too many guns circulating in the community.

“I would say it is time for the army to come in and take the guns,” she said. 

She said she had reported 33 shootings in her area to the police this month. 

“The innocent are suffering here,” she said. 

She said in the street where she had been living for the past four decades, people were quick to spot someone who didn’t belong there.

“We will all come out and ask what they are doing there,” she said. 

Apart from the shootings, she said, there is also widespread theft of taps, water meters and copper cables. 

“But the guns are the big worry,” she said.

“I have lived here for 44 years and this is the worst I have ever seen,” she said.

Moodley pointed out that the area would benefit from high-mast lights as most street lights were not working.

“The municipality comes to fix them but the week after that, they are out again and the cables are stolen,” she said.

Moodley said that a few years ago, when “shot-spotter” technology was used in the gang-ridden area of Helenvale, there was a lull in shootings.

“The police knew where the shooting was and could come quicker,” she said. The project has since been discontinued.

Read more: In the heart of Eastern Cape’s deadly gang warfare, a job ‘opportunity centre’ builds hope


Statistics tabled in the Eastern Cape provincial legislature showed that between 2021 and 2023, more than 88% of all gang-related violence in Nelson Mandela Bay occurred in the northern areas.

Over this period, 361 shooting incidents related to gang violence were reported; 319 of which were in the northern areas. This resulted in the deaths of 180 people, 22 of whom were children.

Victims include Charlene Malgas who was gunned down in Helenvale just before giving birth, while three-year-old Emilio Hutchinson was killed in what was believed to be an attack on witnesses. 

Speaking at the crime imbizo called by Mchunu on Friday, the metro’s executive mayor Gary van Niekerk said the city was under siege. DM

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