Seven people were gunned down in a house in Gugulethu on Monday afternoon amid a growing threat of marauding extortion gangs battling over territory in Cape Town’s townships.
One of the women who was shot dead was believed to have been a drug dealer withholding money from an extortion gang.
Western Cape organised crime detectives combed the gruesome scene where the bodies of four men and three women lay scattered in pools of blood, each having suffered numerous gunshot wounds.
Two women escaped the ordeal, who, one source said, hid in a closet while the shooting took place.
The murders are believed to be linked to fighting with a gang called the Guptas, whose members are said believed to be behind the large-scale extortion of business owners across Cape Town.
“Western Cape Organised Crime detectives with other crime scene experts are on the scene combing for clues where seven people were killed and two injured in a shooting in Gugulethu on Monday afternoon,” said Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novella Potelwa.
“Preliminary reports indicate that three women and four men between the ages of 30 and 40 were shot and killed by unknown gunmen at NY 78 in Gugulethu. Two other victims were injured and taken to a medical facility,” said Potelwa.
Sources said the victims all belonged to the Boko Haram gang, which specialises in cash-in-transit heists.
It is alleged one of the women victims, allegedly a well-known Gugulethu drug dealer, was withholding a huge amount of money from an extortion gang operating across Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Philippi East and Lower Crossroads.
A police constable is believed to be working with the extortion gang and is one of their gunmen.
The Boko Haram gang’s leader is said to be behind bars awaiting trial for a cash-in-transit heist case. The gang’s alleged second-in-command, Nkululeko “Nkuja” Tuntubele, 45, was shot dead on September 25 in Gugulethu while returning from the funeral of former Western Cape ANC secretary Songezo Mjongile.
Tuntubele was the owner of popular Gugulethu tavern, the Corner Lounge.
Last weekend, the gang laid to rest another high-ranking member, Ayanda Bhorey Mtila, who was also recently murdered. Videos from the funeral on October 24 showed mourners driving down the street, with the Boko Haram gang’s Mercedes G-Wagon luxury SUV discharging firearms into the air – a signature send-off for criminal elites.
The murders are believed to be linked to fighting with a gang from Lower Crossroads, called the Guptas, whose members are said to be behind the large-scale extortion of business owners across Cape Town.
According to insiders, the Guptas are attempting to “wipe out” the Boko Haram gang in a winner-takes-all battle for control of extortion and drug territory.
This week Western Cape safety and security MEC Albert Fritz and City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith raised their concerns around extortion in Cape Town’s townships.
“The City of Cape Town is frustrated with the slow response to the announcement by minister Bheki Cele in September to launch a steering committee or task team to curb the extortion experienced by businesses,” said Smith.
A war is raging: cash-in-transit heists escalate
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He said that while the media and public were focused largely on the extortion of businesses in the Cape Town CBD, businesses and residents in Khayelitsha and other communities were experiencing “even more significant extortion from gangsters”.
“The city has been informed of massive and pervasive extortion of foreign and locally owned businesses in Khayelitsha, including extortion of protection money from construction sites, ECDs, people with backyarder accommodation and even from city facilities, the seizure of public transport and private vehicles for ransom in Bloekombos, Wallacedene, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu,” said Smith.
“This also includes interference by political parties and their leaders who have disrupted construction sites in Mitchells Plain, attempting to interfere with tenders,” he said.
The City of Cape Town is frustrated with the slow response to the announcement by Bheki Cele in September to launch a steering committee or task team to curb the extortion experienced by businesses.
— JP Smith, Cape Town MMC for safety and security
Two months ago Cele announced the creation of a steering committee that would have resulted in unprecedented law enforcement cooperation between the national government, Western Cape government and City of Cape Town to tackle the growing extortion threat.
But this week Smith said nothing had yet materialised since the announcement.
“This request was initially facilitated by Western Cape community safety MEC Albert Fritz and followed up shortly thereafter by a broader meeting with SAPS, the provincial government, the city and other stakeholders,” he said.
“At the conclusion of this meeting and during the press conference, Cele committed to a multipronged approach to the crisis that would include all three spheres of government. He pointed out this would be a first-of-its-kind intervention, as we have not previously seen this level of collaboration on an official level and that drawing provincial and city resources into such a criminal justice crisis was a first,” said Smith.
He said there was limited cooperation on matters such as metal theft and gangsterism but six weeks after the announcement there was still no steering committee.
“The city has compiled much information relating to these issues, which it could make available to SAPS in relation to current rates and municipal accounts records, various licence and permit applications, fines and notices, CCTV footage as well as data relating to operational information sourced daily by staff during routine work,” he said.
“We believe that we are able to assist SAPS and the criminal justice system in protecting the public from this scourge and bringing the racketeers and extortionists to justice,” said Smith.
Fritz also called on the police to urgently convene the steering committee so that it could respond to the most recent incidents.
“While the motive of this case is unclear, I further call on the transversal steering committee on organised crime to urgently convene and investigate this matter. I have been informed that related reports on extortion or organised crime can be made by calling SAPS on 021-466-0011,” said Fritz.
Cops ‘constrained’
In response to a Sunday Times story on the extortion rackets plaguing the Western Cape, Potelwa said a common thread is that extortion is reported to the police through third parties.
“The SA Police Service in the Western Cape has been alerted to numerous disturbing incidents where businesspeople and or private individuals have been threatened with violence and/or coerced into paying individuals money in exchange for some protection against robberies, hijackings or other violent crimes,” she said.
“The phenomenon has been picked up in a number of townships in the Cape Town metropole, the Cape Town CBD and a few outlying areas,” said Potelwa.
She said the main reason victims were not reporting extortion cases directly was due to the threat to their safety.
“This has somewhat constrained the SAPS’ response to the claims,” she said.
She said the Western Cape police had developed an operational plan, a key feature of which is to dedicate a 24-hour phone line where victims can report cases of extortion.
“The line is located at the SAPS provincial operational command centre for a prompt operational response to information shared.
“Targeted operations as part of the plan are executed at identified hot spots, with intelligence playing a crucial role in actions embarked upon. The past two weeks have seen forces descending on areas such as Khayelitsha, Harare and Dunoon,” said Potelwa.
Detectives were also investigating cases that had already been opened.
“The constant engagement of key stakeholders within communities has started in a bid to get to know the gravity of the problem,” she said.
“The forces on the ground are still busy pursuing specific leads and will continue for quite some time. It would be misleading to quantify the number of cases under investigation at this moment as the numbers change all the time,” said Potelwa.
