Killings continue unabated in Angelo

One of the five was shot in a robbery, while the others were shot in what appears to be more intense fighting among BaSotho nationals in the ongoing battle over illegal mining.

According to Boksburg SAPS spokesperson, Sgt Cebisa Maseko, it started on May 8, when the police were called to a shooting apparently between rival gangs of zama zamas, at the corner of Main Reef and Pretoria roads.

When the police arrived they found two men lying on the ground, about 30m apart, with multiple bullet wounds.

One of the men, identified as Keketso Lebing who hails from Lesotho, died on the scene after suffering injuries to his head, abdomen and legs.

The second victim was attended to by paramedics, who then transported him to hospital in a critical condition.

At least eight empty cartridges were found at the scene.

Later on, police were again called to another murder scene near the Angelo Hotel, where they found the body of a man lying on the ground.

The man had visible wounds to his neck, shoulder and right hip.

On the following day police found another body of a man, identified as Thabiso Mohai, lying on the ground next to a shack near Main Reef Road, Angelo informal settlement.

He had suffered gunshot wounds to his neck and right shoulder. It is believed that Mohai was shot the previous day and crawled to the nearby homes to ask for help.

In another gruesome killing, another man was on May 10 assaulted and shot dead in what police believe was a mob justice attack.

It is still unclear as to why the community allegedly decided to attack the man.

According to Maseko, the man’s body was found in a pool of blood and had a visible bullet wound in the cheek. His body also sustained bruises and cuts.

All the bodies were taken to the Germiston state mortuary.

This month’s shootings come after a series of fatal shootings among illegal miners in Boksburg and surrounding towns, including Benoni.

These deadly shootings come less than a year after a man, believed to be a zama zama from Lesotho, was shot dead and his body burnt almost beyond recognition, in what police believe was a turf war between rival gangs of illegal miners.

His burnt body was in December 2016 found by one of his relatives in the bushes near Oos Rand railway station, lying face down on the ground.

The deceased, Lebogang Tuna, who hails from Carletonville, was found riddled with bullet wounds This raised more suspicion that he was killed in the battle between the rival groups.

• DEADLY ROBBERY

Another resident of Angelo was shot dead on Monday morning, May 15.

The man was walking along one of the tiny streets of the informal settlement on his way home from work when he was accosted by armed robbers.

They could not find anything of value on their target and the gunman shot him and fled the scene along with his accomplices.

Circumstances surrounding these incidents are under investigation, and no one has been arrested at this stage.

• RESIDENTS RAISE CONCERNS OVER DEADLY SHOOTINGS

Residents of the informal settlement have since been requesting authorities to do something about the robbers and illegal miners, whom they say put residents’ lives in harm’s way.

One of Angelo’s community leaders, Thomas Sibuyi, said gangland-style killings are a weekly event in the informal settlement, where illegal miners kill each other and criminals rob people unabated.

He said in the informal settlement no one walk freely to work or from work without fear of being robbed and killed by the gunmen who run amok.

“To try and stop this violence, as community leaders we organised a meeting with BaSotho nationals and their bosses.

During the meeting we discussed the behaviour of BaSotho illegal miners in our community.

“The bosses and we community members asked them, the BaSotho, that they must stop their criminal behaviour, otherwise we will be forced to chase all of them out of our community.

“It is totally unacceptable that we as South Africans can’t live freely in our own country because of the fighting among rival gangs,” said Sibuyi.

Maseko said the police have introduced new crime-fighting strategies which she hopes will soon bear fruit.