Mitchells Plain CPF member laments lack of police visibility, resources as gun violence in CT escalates

CAPE TOWN - Gun violence continues unabated in communities across Cape Town.

Just this week alone, a number of deaths were recorded in areas including Valhalla Park, Philippi East, Nyanga, and Lentegeur in Mitchells Plain.

ALSO READ: Cape Flats Safety Forum again calls for special probe into CT gun violence

On Tuesday, a triple murder in broad daylight at a busy intersection rocked the Lentegeur community.

An e-hailing driver is among the victims, and police believe the shooting is gang-related.

The Mitchells Plain community policing forum (CPF)'s Linda Jones said: "For the last 10, 12 years, things have just changed and escalated.

"It seems that every day you wake up to bad news, you wake up to a killing, and that is so disheartening, especially in a society where we have youngsters joining up with gangs and being recruited."

Jones said they were also dealing with crimes like robberies in the early morning hours.

"We can only do so much. We don’t have any protective gear, it’s just our yellow jackets, and to me, that doesn’t mean much.

"Thank God some of these young guys still have that respect, but with these many new ones coming in, we cannot trust because we don’t know them."

Jones said a lack of police visibility remained a problem.

"We don’t always have the visibility of police officers that early in the morning because they are also called out to some other areas, and that is really a problem.

"Our resources are low; they are putting in more boots on the ground, but that doesn’t change anything. It seems like the more boots they have on the ground, the more violence there is."