Police are investigating after gunmen killed three men and wounded six others in Imizamo Yethu – the second mass shooting to rock the township in the past five months.
The shooters opened fire on the occupants of three spaza shops in Molokwane Street at 7pm on Friday August 16, according to provincial police spokesman Colonel Andre Traut.
The dead and wounded are all foreign nationals.
Captain Traut said the six wounded men had been admitted to hospital with “serious gunshot wounds”.
Several mass shootings around the city have been linked to extortion rackets, but police would only say the motive for last Friday’s attack is under investigation.
Hout Bay police chief Lieutenant Colonel Captain Jerome Syster confirmed the deaths and injuries but declined to comment further on the investigation.
This is not only the second mass shooting in Imizamo Yethu in the space of five months, it’s the second mass shooting in the same street, where, on Wednesday March 27, at 7pm, gunmen opened fire on a house and vehicle, killing six men and wounding three.
Three men were subsequently arrested and charged with murder (“Three men in court for IY killings,” April 2024).
And in September 2023, a shooting in the Dontse Yakhe section of Imizamo Yethu claimed the lives of three men, all relatives. A fourth man was wounded (“Three men killed in IY shooting,” Sentinel, September 15, 2023).
Residents we tried to speak to following this latest incident declined to comment, saying they feared for their safety.
Hout Bay Community Police Forum chairman Loyiso Skoti said a meeting would be held, at a time and date still to be confirmed, to discuss crime in the area.
Ward councillor Roberto Quintas called on the community to work together and assist the authorities.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stop at 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS app.
