‘People die like flies every day’ at Marikana informal settlement

The alleged cold-blooded murder of 11 people in the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi in Cape Town on Friday night was apparently a revenge attack by gangsters who had seven of their own killed earlier in the week.

The mafia-style shooting and killing on Friday was allegedly carried out by a group of seven members of the gang Amawele (twins), who have been terrorising the community.

Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said that, in the incident on Tuesday, two people were shot and killed and five were assaulted and died, allegedly at the hands of vigilante members of the community.

Marikana community leader Joseph Makeleni said the area was a bloodbath as “people die like flies every day”.

“It is by luck that you will wake up and no one has been killed.”

He said on Friday seven boys aged between 17 and 18 came to Marikana and demanded to know who was responsible for the deaths of their comrades.

“They proceeded to a shebeen in Rolihlahla where they shot and killed four men. A few metres away from there, they shot and killed three people inside a shack. Another one was shot when he was trying to run away from them. He fell in the yard and died. Everything happened in less than 30 minutes,” said Makeleni.

He said the gang leader was behind bars in Pollsmoor Prison, but his accomplice was recruiting other members into the gang.

“They force people to eat raw meat, pour water on their beds, and force grandfathers to rape their own granddaughters. They occupy people’s shacks by force. They carry heavy guns,” said Makeleni.

ANC provincial executive Jabu Mfusi said the area was notorious for crimes relating to mob justice, killings of innocent people, rapes and robberies.

“It is a tragedy and we regret what has happened. We are hoping the perpetrators will be brought to book. The area falls under Nyanga and it is infested by crime. There should be an additional police station and manpower.

“The community should work hand in hand with the police to fight crime and not to take the law into their own hands.”

Police are monitoring the situation and searching for the suspects.