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Reality check as gang shootings mar Ramaphosa’s vision for a safer South Africa

Reality check as gang shootings mar Ramaphosa’s vision for a safer South Africa
Caryn Dolley
By Caryn Dolley
7 Feb 2025
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Nine people were wounded in what appeared to be gang-related shootings in Cape Town at roughly the same time President Cyril Ramaphosa was delivering his annual State of the National Address — during which he said reducing gun violence needed to be prioritised.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa was telling South Africa that tackling gun violence needed to be prioritised, gang skirmishes and shootings were taking place in Cape Town.

Among those wounded were two children, aged 12 and 15.

Ramaphosa delivered his 2025 State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday, 6 February 2025, in Cape Town’s City Hall. He started his speech at about 7pm.

Read more: South Africa’s gang capital and its murderous matrix

Roughly 20 kilometres away and an hour-and-a-half later, which may have coincided with when Ramaphosa was wrapping up his address, shootings were reported in the Cape Town suburb of Lotus River.

There was also a shooting about 13 kilometres from Ramaphosa, in Manenberg.

There have been several recent shootings in the Western Cape — South Africa’s gangsterism epicentre — particularly in the historically poorer suburbs known as the Cape Flats.

Reality on the ground


Eight people, including the 12-year-old child, were wounded in the Lotus River incident on Thursday.

A 15-year-old girl was wounded in the Manenberg incident.

The shootings happened while there was a heightened South African Police Service (SAPS) and law enforcement presence in Cape Town’s city centre on Thursday because of Ramaphosa’s address.

Among the country’s top law enforcers present at the address were Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and national Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGJQ2DYAgjw

While addressing officers tasked with ensuring Thursday’s event went off smoothly, Mchunu had said: “It is with great appreciation that I stand before you today as you prepare for a critical national duty — ensuring safety and security at the State of the Nation Address.”

Parliament’s police committee chairperson Ian Cameron, in a Facebook post on Thursday, questioned what would have happened if half the police at Sona 2025 were “used to raid the living daylights out of gang hideouts just a few kilometres away in the Cape Flats tonight”.

Cameron added: “Proper disruptive operations, it could even be mentioned as SAPS winning while the president speaks.”



Ramaphosa’s 2025 Sona dealt with what was being done to strengthen South Africa, and at one point he said: “We want a nation in which everyone is safe.”

The shootings in Cape Town, though, point to the reality on the ground for many residents — that they are not safe.

‘Tackle gun violence scourge’


During his speech, Ramaphosa referenced crime fighting, including plans to deal with gun violence. He said the SAPS was working with other law enforcement agencies to dismantle organised crime.

https://www.youtube.com/live/DO477eT_Pa4

“We must tackle the scourge of gun violence that has plagued our society for decades,” Ramaphosa said. “I have asked the minister and the national commissioner of police to prioritise reducing gun-related crime and violence. 

“This includes preventing the diversion of firearms into the illicit market and recovering illegal firearms in circulation. 

“We know from international evidence and our own experience that this is the most effective way to reduce overall violent crime.”

Read more: Guns to gangs: ‘Prove our stolen firearms were used in killings,’ says cop boss

Daily Maverick has previously reported on how some police officers may have been involved in smuggling firearms to gangsters. Some were also suspected of creating fraudulent firearm licences for suspects.

Shooting at a memorial


Meanwhile, the police confirmed to Daily Maverick that there was a shooting in Lotus River on Thursday night.

Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said eight people, between the ages of 12 and 35 years, were wounded at about 8.30pm on the corner of Buck Road and 6th Avenue.

He said that according to reports, police officers had responded to gunshots.

“Upon their arrival they saw a male person lying in the road with a gunshot wound to the head, and the ambulance service members were busy with him,” Van Wyk said.

That man was rushed to hospital.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=591124590473461

 

“Members of the community then approached the police members and informed them that there was a memorial service, and while the people stood around outside, a Grey Polo vehicle came driving slowly and a male person began to randomly shoot into the crowd, causing injuries to a number of victims,” Van Wyk said.

“All the victims were taken to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.”

Van Wyk said it was believed the motive for the shooting was gang related.

In Manenberg, two shootings were reported on Thursday.

“Both cases are also believed to be gang related,” Van Wyk said.

He added that in one incident at about 8.30pm, which would have coincided with Ramaphosa wrapping up his Sona address, a 15-year-old girl was wounded in both legs in Sabie Crescent.

Hours earlier, at about 4.50pm, a man was shot in Griete Court and rushed to hospital with wounds to his back, left arm and left thigh.

Shot, set alight


Other shootings reported in Cape Town on Thursday include two people being killed in Rylands.

Violence across the city underpins these incidents.

On 4 February police announced that the bodies of three people were found in Delft South — they had been shot and set alight in an apparent vigilante attack.

While an arrest was made, the motive was not immediately clear.

A few days earlier, on 30 January, suspected Junky Funky Kids gang leader Ashley Philips was fatally shot outside the Brackenfell police station, where he was apparently signing documents relating to his parole.

His murder sparked fears of retaliatory shootings. DM


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