- Additional law enforcement officers are being deployed in Mitchells Plain due to gang violence in the area.
- Five people were killed in shooting incidents in three days.
- The deployment of additional officers will focus on five hotspot areas.
The City of Cape Town will be increasing the number of law enforcement officers deployed in Mitchells Plain due to gang violence over the past week.
City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said additional Law Enforcement Advancement Programme (LEAP) officers have been requested for temporary deployment to five hotspots in Mitchells Plain.
The announcement comes after Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz conducted an oversight visit to the Mitchells Plain police station on Sunday. He said additional officers would be sent to the violence-hit area.
A spate of shootings in the area claimed five lives in three days. Several people were injured. On Friday, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed and three others, aged 14, 16 and 18, were injured when gunmen opened fire on them in Beacon Valley. Another four people were shot at close range in a drive-by shooting in Lost City on Saturday afternoon.
The deployment is in response "to the spree of gang violence taking place there, primarily in Beacon Valley and Tafelsig", Smith said.
"I have consulted with [MEC Fritz] and City Law Enforcement management. This will start [on Sunday] afternoon with 30 officers and increase to 50 officers [on Monday]. The deployment will be reviewed in due course," he said.
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