A prominent Cape Town lawyer was among those who died in a mass shooting in Gugulethu this week.
Mbeko Venfolo, director of Venfolo Attorneys, was one of five people shot dead by gunmen in KTC on Monday, the Black Lawyers Association (BLA) in the Western Cape said.
The BLA said it has “learnt with shock and disgust the sad news” of the death of a colleague Mbeko Venfolo, who was shot with four of his friends by criminals.
“This calamity comes a little more than a month after the death of another lawyer, Ayanda Gladile, who also died at the hands of gun-touting individuals who have no regard for human life.”
Police have not yet named the victims.
Organised crime detectives are investigating the shooting, according to Western Cape police spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa.
“Police were called on Monday evening to Fenqe Street in KTC. On arrival they discovered the bodies of five men with gunshot wounds in two vehicles.
“Reports indicate the victims were sitting in two vehicles when another vehicle with armed men emerged and shots were fired at the occupants of the two vehicles. Five men between the ages of 46 and 52 were killed.
“The motive for the shooting is the subject of the police investigation that has been initiated with no arrests yet.”
Prominent Cape Town lawyer Mbeko Venfolo killed in Gugulethu mass shooting
Image: 123RF/Paul Fleet
A prominent Cape Town lawyer was among those who died in a mass shooting in Gugulethu this week.
Mbeko Venfolo, director of Venfolo Attorneys, was one of five people shot dead by gunmen in KTC on Monday, the Black Lawyers Association (BLA) in the Western Cape said.
The BLA said it has “learnt with shock and disgust the sad news” of the death of a colleague Mbeko Venfolo, who was shot with four of his friends by criminals.
“This calamity comes a little more than a month after the death of another lawyer, Ayanda Gladile, who also died at the hands of gun-touting individuals who have no regard for human life.”
Police have not yet named the victims.
Organised crime detectives are investigating the shooting, according to Western Cape police spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa.
“Police were called on Monday evening to Fenqe Street in KTC. On arrival they discovered the bodies of five men with gunshot wounds in two vehicles.
“Reports indicate the victims were sitting in two vehicles when another vehicle with armed men emerged and shots were fired at the occupants of the two vehicles. Five men between the ages of 46 and 52 were killed.
“The motive for the shooting is the subject of the police investigation that has been initiated with no arrests yet.”
Five men shot dead in Gugulethu
The BLA said South Africa is besieged by criminals.
“The extent to which criminals have scant regard for human life is the clearest indication of how ripped-off the moral fibre of society is.
“Our communities live at the mercy of brazen criminality. The prevailing situation is an antithesis of our hard-fought liberation from the tyranny of apartheid for there can be no freedom when criminality reigns.
“The status quo cannot be allowed. Crime in the country has reached unprecedented levels which should concern every law-abiding citizen.”
The BLA called for “intervention”.
The association said killings had become commonplace in black townships and required urgent intervention from multiple stakeholders “including law enforcement agencies, an interministerial task force, civil society and the religious community”.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
Advocate Pete Mihalik’s killers handed life sentences
'Lawyers are under siege': friend of advocate gunned down in Cape Town
Legal fraternity under siege in Cape, as another murdered lawyer mourned
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos