Joburg CBD violence claims second life as woman is shot

A woman was killed and a second was shot and wounded in Hillbrow in the inner city, Joburg metro police confirmed on Tuesday morning.

JMPD spokesperson chief superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the shooting happened on the corner of Kotze and Claim streets on Monday evening.

"The cause of the shooting is still under investigation," he said.

Police spokesperson Col Lungelo Dlamini said he was not immediately aware of the incident.

Listen | What Police Minister General Bheki Cele plans to do about violent looting in Gauteng

This was the second fatality in the area.

On Monday, police confirmed that a man died after being shot in the head in Hillbrow as outbreaks of violence and looting continued to ravage Gauteng. Dlamini said the man was allegedly shot by a group of people who had gathered in the area.

Police minister Bheki Cele, who visited the areas on Monday afternoon, vowed to send more police to volatile areas in Gauteng.

“We need to stop any form of looting by bringing more police. Tomorrow [Tuesday], we will have meetings with the communities because, for us, what will help is to involve the community, the leadership at all levels.

“We believe that talking to the people, life will be better rather than sending only security to deal with the matter. We need to deal with it both politically, at government level, and speak with the people,” Cele said.

An almost unearthly quiet hung over the streets of some sections of Joburg's CBD on Tuesday morning. Shops in and around an area bordering End Street, Rahima Moosa Street and up to Smit Street, known as the Fashion District, were closed and shuttered, while pavements usually choc-a-bloc and bustling with hawkers, and pedestrians were bereft of activity.

Small groups of between four and six men, standing, seemingly at random, talking among themselves or on cell phones could be seen across the area. Traffic on the usually busy Bree, and Rahima Moosa streets was down to a trickle.

The unnatural quiet was also in evidence at the usually chaotically busy Noord Street taxi rank. On what should have been a busy weekday, with hundreds of commuters passing through, dozens of hawkers and taxi industry officials, it was, in fact, quieter than midday on a Saturday at the rank. What commuters were present were tensely queueing for taxis that usually leave every 10 to 15 minutes. One commuter told TimesLIVE he had been waiting more than 25 minutes for a taxi to Alexandra. And while commuters waited, dozens of parked taxis clogged the lanes of the rank, their drivers nowhere to be seen.

A high visibility police presence is being maintained in the downtown area.

Violence flared at the weekend in Jeppestown and surrounding areas in eastern Johannesburg. A mob looted and set alight several shops in the area. Dozens of cars were torched at dealerships. Nothing but burnt frames of cars, which were once worth millions, were left behind.

Police confirmed that 100 people had been arrested on charges ranging from public violence to malicious damage to property, and to theft. The arrests took place in Rosettenville (20 arrests), Malvern (35),  Jeppestown (26), Germiston (9) and Tembisa (10).

SABC journalists found themselves at the receiving end of the violence in Jeppestown on Monday afternoon when their car was attacked, and the rear window smashed.

- Additional reporting by Samantha Webb