Cape Town - A Women’s Day braai ended in tragedy when three men were shot dead and two wounded at a house in Eendrag Crescent, Voorbrug, Delft.
A group of friends were relaxing and celebrating the public holiday when gunshots rang out five minutes after load shedding on Wednesday night.
“I had just pulled in when the incident happened,” a relative of one of the dead men said.
“The power was already out and within a few minutes of me being at home, I heard about five or six shots.
“Running out, I saw two laying there and I went back inside to fetch my torch.
“When I got close my brother-in-law, Shelton February, 36, was still breathing because his lips were still moving. We took him to the hospital but unfortunately he passed away there.”
Delft Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson Reggie Maart said the victims were standing outside when unknown men came and started to shoot multiple shots.
“As the CPF, we are disturbed with all these types of killings mostly happening during load shedding. Again we are appealing to Eskom to keep the lights on as Delft is a high crime area and we are suffering.”
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said this latest shooting incident was another demonstration of how critical it is to find various and alternative ways of addressing murders in the Delft area.
“This is the second mass shooting incident in the area in less than two weeks. Four people were fatally shot at the end of July.
“As the Western Cape Government, we have already ensured additional Leap (Law Enforcement Advancement Plan) boots on the ground, with a further 68 officers deployed since July 1. The area now has 141 Leap officers, the biggest deployment in a single area.”
Throughout the 2022/23 financial year, Delft has been in the top two precincts for murder in the province.
During the first quarter, April to June 2022, the precinct was number one in the province, while in the second and third quarter, it was number two in the province, said Allen
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of three men aged between 28 and 36, and the attempted murder of two men whose ages are yet to be determined.