Nearly 100 shots fired as gangs battle it out in Manenberg

Rival gangs turned Manenberg into a war zone on Tuesday evening, firing nearly 100 bullets from 20 different locations within a 1km radius in the Cape Town suburb.

The shoot-out was recorded by the city's acoustic gunshot detection system, which can pinpoint the position of shooters in real time, enabling authorities to get boots on the ground at the scene.

Safety and security MMC JP Smith said police were alerted to the location of the shots being fired and the city's Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) members were dispatched.

“SAPS deployed their anti-gang unit with four vehicles and 10 members. We sent 11 Leap vehicles with 40 officers to assist, with our metro police sending in the tactical response unit with two vehicles and five members,” said Smith.

“South Africa desperately needs to up the game against such urban terrorism. We need credible, detailed information we can rely on, not people pointing us in the opposite direction.

“Sometimes a community is too scared to speak out. Sometimes they keep quiet as they need to 'protect their own'.

“But with our ISR [information, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft] ready to be launched in the coming weeks, our plane could be on the other side of the city and we can instantly focus on any area, zoom in, 'count the freckles on the shooter's cheek'. Then follow him back to his hideout, even if he changes clothes along the way.”

The ISR, also known as Eye in the Sky, is a two-seater fixed-wing aircraft fitted with state-of-the-art cameras that will provide officers on the ground with situational information and aerial imagery.

“The ISR technology is a versatile tool as the fixed-wing aircraft can cover larger geographical areas, stay in the air for longer periods doing low-level reconnaissance flights and will be less weather-dependent than drones. The aircraft will also assist with improving rapid response time by officers during planned operations as precise information can be relayed,” Smith said in March.

The aircraft is fitted with infrared cameras that can register body heat in cold water, the heat resonating from a recently fired firearm or the wheels of a speeding vehicle.

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