A long wait for justice amid trail of bloodshed

DASHING for cover or lying flat on the floor inside homes as gunshots are rapidly and randomly fired at any time of the day or night has become the norm for those living in Wentworth. With many innocent people, some as young as 13, losing their lives in the crossfire as gangs in the area remain embroiled in a bloody drug turf war, and hundreds of others affected by the violence, a string of killings remain unsolved.

While residents claim they have little to no hope of local police curbing the violence, police have yet to quell the public’s concerns by presenting a game plan on how gang violence will be rooted out.
Ward 68 councillor, Aubrey Snyman, who’s nephew, Myron Snyman, was gunned down while seated in the bedroom of his home in Wolraad Road on October 1, 2022, said the number of unresolved murder cases were a sad state of affairs.

“There was an arrest related to Myron’s case, however, I do not know how far the investigations have gone. There are many other murder cases which remain unsolved and community members are very disappointed with the manner in which most of these murder cases are handled by the investigating officers. It has also come to my attention that victims who survived some of the shootings and witnesses are intimated, therefore this contributes to most of the cases being unresolved. Evidence is provided to police by victims involved, but no arrests are made and that is why the perpetrators continue shooting, as they know there are no consequences,” added Snyman.

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Community leader, Tracey Williams said, “Our justice system is failing both the young and old. Mother’s tears fall every week in the community. When there is a shooting, the gangs retaliate and from that retaliation comes another one, leaving more than one family in mourning.

“Cases have not been solved. Dockets are opened, but nothing else becomes of it. We have risen to the challenge of working with police to end the era of violence. It is sad that we still have not received a copy of the response to the memorandum the community handed to Wentworth police, and we are also still awaiting a response from the station commander about the higher authorities, she said she would need to contact in order for a better solution on eradicating gang violence and rooting out corruption.”

Snyman added, “We cannot get those lives that were lost back but we can still save some lives if government addresses the short falls of police, who are under resourced. To those families who have lost loved ones, I offer my deepest sympathy and condolences and urge them to seek counseling, as grief can be overwhelming.”

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