In the wake of Saturday’s mass shooting in Finetown, south of Johannesburg, residents are planning a summit on how to fight rising gun crime in their area, as some demand to know why the police’s response to the incident was so slow.     

In a weekend of terror, 11 people were shot and seven died as bullets flew on the corner of Phillips and Beatrice streets in this part of Ennerdale. 

“It is the first time that an incident of this magnitude happened within the Greater Ennerdale area, but I believe that the shootout on Saturday was not an isolated incident,” Ennerdale Community Police Forum chairperson Peter Tshazibane told Daily Maverick. 

Residents covered the victims’ blood with building sand after the Finetown shooting. (Photo: Supplied)

He said that on 10 September 2022 there was a shootout not far from the scene of Saturday’s killings. “In this incident, two males were declared deceased.”

Tshazibane said they have seen a proliferation of serious crimes involving firearms, including house robberies. 

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“Crime in the area has been exacerbated by an influx of people and the growing beyond the control of the informal settlements around Ennerdale, with no increase in the number of manpower for SAPS. Coupled with difficulty in accessibility – the layout of these settlements in non-compliance to sound town planning makes it difficult at times for SAPS to respond to incidents on time.”

Another Finetown resident, who did not want to be named, was critical of the police’s response on Saturday.

Police Minister Bheki Cele visited Finetown and promised that the killers will be caught. (Photo: Supplied)

“The target was robbing street vendors selling maotwana (chicken’s feet). When it all started Ennerdale police were called but they never came on time. Where were the police? Maybe if they were here on time the lives of the deceased could have been saved. These boys came through our street finishing people’s lives and they were randomly shooting at the vendors and bystanders. I suspect it was the Russian mob (Basotho) because we have had serious troubles with them in the community and their involvement in violent crimes.”

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Of the 11 people shot, three men and a woman died on the scene while two women died on arrival at hospital and another person succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

‘In the dark’

Finetown ward councillor Amelia Zama pointed to a lack of service delivery as another cause of crime in the area.

She was addressing Ennerdale residents, the Police Minister Bheki Cele and his Gauteng delegation on Monday during a visit to the area in the wake of the shootings.

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“We are sitting in the dark, our transformers have not been working for five months. We have taken up the issues with Eskom and nothing is being done. People that died in the weekend mass shootout are people we know and had personal relations with. Young people that were not involved in crime… Youngsters that didn’t go sit and drink but were doing business as usual. Others were sitting in their vehicles and were shot. The past weekend was 11 people, the week before that it was two people. It seems to us nothing is being done and that breaks our hearts as a community. We are asking Minister Bheki Cele, please speak to someone so that something gets done,” she said.

[WATCH] This local councillor says crime is also as a result of lack of service delivery in the area. Minister Cele has received a full briefing on policing in the area as well as investigations into the shooting that has claimed six lives. #FinetownShooting pic.twitter.com/DHTZ0ZhKOO

— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) October 31, 2022

Gauteng police have confirmed that they responded to Saturday’s shooting at about 10pm. Spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said: “It is reported that four suspects attempted to rob street vendors selling chicken feet. The vendors allegedly resisted and threw stones at the suspects and their vehicle’s rear window was damaged. The suspects drove off and came back on foot, armed with firearms. They then shot at the vendors and bystanders, shooting 11 people. Four succumbed to their injuries on the spot and three died in hospital and four people are recovering in hospital.”

Muridili said the provincial commissioner had mobilised maximum resources to investigate the shooting. No arrests had been made and the police continued to hunt for the killers. DM