Just minutes before Police Minister Bheki Cele and his entourage was due to make an appearance in Mitchells Plain, skote rang out metres away from the venue.
The 44-year-old victim was walking to his home in Alwyn Street, Lentegeur, when shots were fired by two gunmen, killing him.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed: “The victim was approached by unknown males who took out firearms and randomly shot at him.
“The motive for this shooting incident is believed to be gang related.”
At the gathering held in the parking lot of the Promenade Mall, Cele remarked on how his visits to larney areas differed from visits to the Cape Flats.
“Every time I visit areas like Hanover Park, Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, or Uitsig, it’s to pick up a body or visit a family of someone who was raped.”
Cele said his ideal is that the Cape Flats would be so safe that women can walk freely in the road after midnight without fearing the knives and guns of gangsters.
Speaking shortly after attending the handover of 251 new police cars by Cele, Lentegeur Community Policing Forum chairperson Byron de Villiers said while it was a hope that many people had, it seemed far-fetched.
“We need to be realistic; up until such times when our communities are living better, where everyone is working and there are better social economic circumstances, that is when we can maybe stop commenting on shootings like these that happened minutes before the minister’s speech.”
He also called for better support for CPF members in the province: “It’s long overdue; while everyone was at the handover, our members were active on the scene.”
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za