More gang warfare broke out earlier this afternoon in Lotus River, leaving at least 3 persons shot, with 2 persons taken to hospital and another declared deceased.
The first shooting occurred in Dove Rd, and while services responded to the scene, in what seems as an action in retaliation, multiple shots were fired across a field in Erica Way as gangs battled it out against each other.
With officers responding, members came themselves under attack and were pinned down as gangs turned their fire power onto the members. Additional resources flooded into the area, with Law Enforcement and Metro Police K9 members coming to their rescue.
As gang warfare continues to plunge our communities into terror, one needs to seriously question the reasons- where has the real intention been to curb such criminality? Even with dedicated SAPS gang units, how is it that instead of reducing the gang onslaught, it continues to increase year after year?
No amount of empty SONA commitments will ever change this.
Our services have been going all out, and while we arrest suspects every single day and take around 5 firearms per week off these streets and hand them over to SAPS, too often the same suspects are returned into the very same communities just days later, ready to arm themselves again and continue their reign of terror.
We are ready to do more and we must! We cannot just be allowed to "patrol." Our municipality must be allowed to assist SAPS, and we must be granted Investigative powers as well.
This will enable us to unravel the intricate web of the gang hierarchy, allowing us to directly prosecute and make sure these same criminals are rapidly convicted as opposed to simply being recycled back into the community.
The area itself is still highly volatile, with our members still responding to additional shooting incidents. But we need everyone's help. If you see something, say something. 021-480 7700.