Police have come under fire in an attack in which it is suspected members of the 28s gang ambushed a cop station in Cape Town to try and get hold of alcohol.

The violence erupted in the Cape Town suburb of Ravensmead on Friday 18 August 2023, the same day Police Minister Bheki Cele released South Africa’s latest crime statistics.

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Around noon on Friday, the City of Cape Town issued a media alert saying that South African Police Service (SAPS) officers were under fire and had requested urgent backup.

The statement said that Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers, who fall under the Western Cape government and city, rushed to the scene.

‘Gangsters hiding in apartment’

“Leap members responded and assisted Ravensmead SAPS. The shoot-out continued as Leap and SAPS drove the gangs back and who have now sought refuge within one of the apartment flats,” it said.

“SAPS Airwing has been activated, as well as the Metro Police Gang and Drug Task Team, with several hardened vehicles surrounding the premises.”

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The city’s statement said a police officer was shot in the upper body and rushed to hospital.

A Leap officer was also wounded in the leg.

‘28s demanded seized liquor’

“It is believed the violence escalated after members of the 28 gang stormed the police station demanding the return of alcohol that had been previously confiscated,” the city’s statement said.

“This is an active crime scene and extremely volatile, members of the public are to keep a distance.”

Footage of what appeared to be the scene, posted by Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith on Facebook, showed a street with smoke billowing in the background.

In other footage, apparent gunshots can be heard.

On Friday afternoon, Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed two attempted murder cases were under investigation.

Cases of violence and intimidation were also opened.

Van Wyk did not mention the 28s gang.

Alcohol abandoned in alley plus 10 arrests

He said the cases were opened “following an altercation earlier today between police and disgruntled members of the community over liquor which was earlier confiscated during a crime combatting operation conducted by the local police.”

The alcohol, he said, had been found abandoned in an alley in Ravensmead.

Van Wyk confirmed the Leap officer was wounded in the leg and said the wounded policeman was a sergeant whose head was grazed by a bullet.

He said 10 suspects, men between the ages of 20 and 54 years, were arrested.

“They are currently being processed and will appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s court once charged. More arrests [are] not excluded,” Van Wyk said.

 “[In the] meantime reinforcement[s] were deployed in the area to monitor and normalise the situation.”

There have been other recent shootings in which cops have come under gunfire. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Emotional farewell for two Cape Town safety officers shot dead in their thirties

Another Leap officer, Zamikhaya Kwinana, was murdered on 4 August during a volatile taxi trike that gripped the city around that time.

Unprecedented R1.35-million reward

According to another City of Cape Town statement, a reward of R1.35-million was being offered for information that would lead to an arrest in the case.

“Officer Kwinana was a passenger in a marked Law Enforcement vehicle driving in Nyanga just after 8 pm when the vehicle came under heavy fire on Friday the 4th of August,” that statement said.

“When his colleagues realised he had been hit, they sped off to Heideveld Day Hospital, but the officer was declared deceased on arrival — he had sustained gunshot wounds to the head.”

The city’s statement said the reward had been increased to “an unprecedented amount” due to “a remarkable display of solidarity with our officers, several benefactors approached the City requesting to pledge additional amounts to the reward already offered.”

Meanwhile, in another attack involving another Leap officer, Toufeeq Williams was murdered in Mitchells Plain on 30 July.

He had been off duty at the time.

Read more in Daily Maverick: SAPS confirm arrest of suspect linked to murder of Cape Town Leap officer Toufeeq Williams

The City of Cape Town previously offered a R100,000 reward for information that would lead to the capture or conviction of those behind the shooting of Williams.

Daily Maverick has reported extensively on the 28s gang, of which members were suspected of being behind Friday’s attack on police and law enforcement officers.

Venue closed in extortion spat

Earlier this week it was reported that the Ayepyep Lifestyle Lounge in Cape Town, marketed as a luxury venue, had closed its doors due to a spat involving allegations of threats and extortion.

Ayepyep founder Kagiso Setsetse alleged suspected 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife were trying to take over the business.

But Stanfield made counterclaims that Setsetse had taken out “a R15-million life cover policy” on his [Setsetse’s] business partner, the DJ and producer Oupa John Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody, who went on to be murdered in a shooting in Johannesburg in November 2022.

Setsetse, it was reported in the Sunday World, did not deny that, but countered that Stanfield was portraying the situation in a way that was intended to tarnish his name.

Judgment suggests cop-gang collusion

There was also heightened attention on matters relating to the 28s gang when, in October last year, a judgment was delivered in the Western Cape high court.

Read more in Daily Maverick: 28s gang ‘capture’ top Western Cape cops, prosecutors’ lives at risk – judge sounds corruption alarm

In that judgmen Judge Daniel Thulare said that evidence in a gang-related case suggested members of the 28s gang had corrupted not only low-ranking police officers in the Western Cape but also the management structure.

A section of the judgement, which police and the Western Cape government said would be analysed to ascertain its merit, stated: “The evidence suggests that the senior management of the SAPS in the province has been penetrated to the extent that the 28 gang has access to the table where the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in the Western Cape sits with his senior managers and lead[s] them in the study of crime, develop[s] crime prevention strategies and decide[s] on tactics and approach to the safety and security of inhabitants of the Western Cape. 

“This includes penetration of and access to the sanctity of the reports by specialised units like the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence, to the Provincial Commissioner.” DM