Western Cape police have confirmed the arrest of a suspect after a shooting on Sunday, 20 March that left six people dead in the eNkanini informal settlement in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. 

Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said: “As part of ongoing investigations into the recent multiple murders in Khayelitsha, organised crime detectives have arrested a suspect. The 35-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and is expected to appear in the Khayelitsha Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 28 March. 

“The detectives assigned to the case have their sights set on specific leads, with more arrests imminent.” 

On the afternoon of Sunday, 20 March three gunmen fired shots at random at people in Lindela Road in the Enkanini informal settlement. When the police arrived they found the bodies of five people, 200m apart. A sixth person died on arrival at a medical facility. 

Two of the dead were women and four were men between the ages of 18 and 27. 

Potelwa said the motive for the killings had not yet been established.  

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The arrest comes a week after the deadly long weekend that claimed at least 12 lives in Cape Town: six people at the Enkanini informal settlement, two in Gugulethu and four in Strand.

Funeka Soldaat, the Enkanini Community Policing Forum representative, said that while criminals operate in the area, “Mass murders are not so common. In Enkanini we have active neighbourhood watch structures and safer walks with SAPS are being done in the area.”

The councillor for Enkanini, the ANC’s Ayanda Tetani, said he was engaging with community leaders to be watchdogs of their communities.  

“I want each and every leader to be a neighbourhood watchdog. The minimum target so far is 2,000 watchdogs. Each leader, in turn, has the duty to recruit [members of] the community.” 

Tetani said the area needs surveillance cameras and working street lights to help prevent crimes that occur after dark. DM

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