A young woman standing with her friends in a street in Manenberg became the latest casualty of the gang violence plaguing the Cape Flats when a stray bullet hit her in the head, Western Cape police said on Tuesday.
A post mortem will be conducted to confirm if reports that the woman was pregnant are true, police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said.
The 22-year-old murder victim had been in Gamtoos Street at about 15:20 on Monday when shots were fired between rival gangs.
“She was struck in the head by a stray bullet. She died on the scene due to injuries sustained,” Van Wyk said.
SANDF soldiers started arriving in Cape Town on Monday before hitting the streets to assist SAPS in a clamp-down on gang-related crime.
Manenberg is one of 10 areas identified for SA National Defence Force intervention in police-led operations in Cape Town’s most violence-plagued precincts.
In his budget speech on Thursday, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had given the go-ahead for the army to be deployed.
The soldiers underwent “mission-ready training” after their arrival. This included a briefing on the areas in which they will be active, the objectives of the mission, expectations of troop conduct and preparations for the engagement with the public.
The troops are expected to hit the streets shortly and Cele said on Sunday the soldiers would be deployed “in about two days”.
A total of 43 people were murdered in Cape Town this past weekend.
According to provincial forensics services, 25 people were shot dead and 12 fatally stabbed between Friday night and Monday morning.
The highest number of murders was recorded in Mfuleni, where six people were killed.
Delft and Samora Machel each recorded four murders, followed by Mitchells Plain with three.
NEWS24
