The grandmother of two boys who were among the group of teenagers caught in a suspected gang-related shooting in Westbury, Johannesburg, on Tuesday said they are now living in fear that the alleged perpetrators could come back to attack them.
On Tuesday seven teenagers were shot in what police described as a gang-related shooting. Two of the seven teenagers, Tagen du Plessis and Deyagan Ruiters, were fatally wounded, while four are fighting for their lives in hospital. One of the teenagers was discharged on Tuesday night.
Speaking outside her home, 70-year-old Maureen Davies said she had received threats on Facebook that she is next. She dismissed as untrue reports by police that the teenagers were part of rival gangs.
An emotional Davies, who could not hold back her tears as she spoke to the media outside her home on Wednesday, said she didn’t know why her grandchildren were targeted.
She said the perpetrators who opened fire are well known in the community, and maintained that the police had got it wrong. The teenagers were not part of any gang and were in fact victims, she said, adding that they stopped going to school at the end of the second term because the gang members would wait for them at the school.
None of what happened makes sense to her, she said, claiming jealousy might be the motive as her grandchildren dress well.
“They are dressed well, and I don’t know if that is the problem. I really don’t know where this problem comes from.
“They called them Varados because the shooters are from the Fast Guns gang. They are labelling these children Varados as they are friends with young boys who belong to the Varados gang,” she said.
Davies said she never saw any of the teenagers who were shot carrying guns, adding that she doesn’t know why the rival gangs are fighting each other but it is allegedly for spots to sell drugs in the community. She expressed concern about the safety of community members and said violence is out of control in the area.
“We will all die like flies and nothing happens because they [police] are so much involved with the gangsters.”
An 18-year-old teenager who survived the shooting said his friend saved him. With a visible wound to his ear, he said he was the first one to be shot at while they were sitting in front of a house.
“We were sitting here on the floor yesterday [Tuesday] when about four guys came in and started shooting at us,” he said.
They shot his friend in the back while he was trying to protect him, he said.
“When they shot at my ear, my friend shielded me. They shot him in the back, now he is dead. We’re not gang members.”
The suspects are known and jealous of their group, he added.
“We are not part of the gang; we just sit here and gamble every day.”
The grade 10 pupil, who stopped going to school at the end of the second term, said he wants to finish school, look for a job and leave Westbury.
“We were just sitting [when it all happened], cracking jokes as usual, and my friend, who is dead, was still making us a pipe when the shots went off.”
National police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola visited Sophiatown police station on Wednesday. He said police are working around the clock to apprehend the four teenagers believed to be behind the shooting.
“We have five survivors ... Victims have been identified and it is just a matter of time before we take down those teenagers,” he said.
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