Concerns over violent crimes in the province, specifically the apparent tendency of setting people alight, have been raised by provincial police.
Approximately a dozen people have been shot and killed and numerous others injured in recent days. Five people were murdered in a single event in Philippi East alone.
Thembisile Patekile, the Western Cape Police Commissioner, claimed that even with the deployment of additional police resources and people, violent crimes continue to see an uptick.
“When members arrived, they found five bodies burnt beyond recognition. We suspect that this is extortion related conflict between two areas,” he added.
Speaking to VOC News, Dr Llewellyn MacMaster of the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition said this is not the first-time incidents like this occur. He further said more needs to be done to bring an end to violent crimes before it spirals out of control completely.
“This is of grave concern to us, and it is something that needs to be addressed. Police are not able to fix this issue alone, we all must work together to stop this trend, a trend that has been ongoing for years. We must stop normalising crime and stand up to these individuals to ensure that generations to come are not subjected to this lifestyle, in which our children are too scared to be outside because we just do not know when violent acts of crime will be committed and who will be affected,” he added.
