Turf war claims another life in Angelo

According to residents of Angelo, a number of bloody shootings recently took place near the mineshaft when the rival gangs clashed.

In the most recent incident, on the night of October 1, a shooting ensued between the rival gangs and resulted in a man being shot and killed in what appears to be a hit.

Police were called to the scene of the shooting on Sunday night and found a man, going by the name of Shepard Ngwenya, with a gunshot wound in his abdomen lying on the ground.

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He was rushed to hospital but subsequently succumbed to his injury.

Information obtained by police from onlookers at the scene was that the shooting stems from a series of previous fatal shootings that are related to the messy illegal mining turf war between the two rival groups who are fighting for the nearby mineshafts.

At this stage, no arrests have been made in connection with the latest murder.

This killing follows a number of constant fights for turf, which reportedly claimed a number of lives and left scores of other people injured in the past couple of months.

One illegal miner, a Zimbabwean who spoke under condition of anonymity, previously told the Advertiser that there is an ongoing battle among Basotho, Zimbabwean, Mozambican and a few South African miners.

He said the heavily armed groups fight against each other for control of the mineshafts and mine dumps, adding that they often prevent each other from working which leads to dangerous and bloody battles.

Residents of the informal settlement said they have been gripped by fear in recent days as the violence between the rival groups sometimes spill over into their streets.-@FanieFLK