'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'

MITCHELLS Plain mense are saying enough is enough after a march for peace amid the ongoing gang killings yesterday was halted by another shooting scene.

Save Mitchells Plain joined hands with the Malachi Foundation, various political parties, faith-based institutions and concerned residents to organise a peace and prayer motorcade to honour the lives lost and pray through the affected areas in response to the ongoing tragedy.

Cars came out in their numbers to support the call for peace, with posters that demanded “Gun-free streets and silence the guns” and drove to affected areas such as Beacon Valley, Portlands, Westridge, Lentegeur, Tafelsig and Eastridge.

But at the very first stop in Beacon Valley, where a mass shooting took place over the weekend, the street was cornered off with police tape and officers assisting the crime scene.

According to a police statement, two men were shot and killed in a drive-by shooting, while a third was wounded in the leg.

Organiser Shahiem Van Nelson from Save Mitchells Plain said they are claiming the streets back of Mitchells Plain through prayer and duah.

He stated: “The plan is to visit those areas where the shootings took place. Everybody is talking about the gang violence, the person who was shot or the perpetrators but no one is concentrating on those who are traumatised through these shootings.

“We felt the need to go to those communities and say ‘you are not alone, we are standing in solidarity with you and we feel your pain’. We believe in the higher power who can assist those traumatised families.”

Resident Abigail van Sensie from Beacon Valley fears that the shootings in the community are getting worse.

She said: “It is important for me to come and join the march because it is time for us as a community to stand together because of the killings. What is happening to our children is sad.

“Everyone is affected – it was not my child today, but it might be my child tomorrow.”

Western Cape Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ricardo Mackenzie, joined residents and said that police need more resources and proper crime fighting strategies.

He added: “It is sad to see Mitchells Plain bleeding again and it is not the first time – it has been coming for years.

“The problem is our crime intelligence. The staff at our police stations are completely understaffed and we urge our colleagues to help with crime intelligence in our communities.

“We urge the communities to please join us and work with us in resolving these matters but the justice system needs to come to the party.

“The Department of Justice cannot allow these gangsters on the streets within 24 hours, that is also a big problem in fighting crime in the country.”