Two more killed in Westbury as gang violence escalates sharply

On Monday morning, 7 September, scholar transport driver Abdulrazaak Mohamed Moolla (53) was shot and killed by two young men after he had dropped off schoolchildren and was preparing to park his vehicle outside a block of flats.

Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Tintswalo Sibeko said the gunmen shot him multiple times before fleeing the scene in a blue Volkswagen Polo. Moolla was declared dead at the scene and buried on Monday night at West Park Cemetery.

“The motive for the shooting is unknown at this stage,” Sibeko said, adding that no arrests have been made.

Less than 24 hours after Moolla was laid to rest, a 37-year-old man was shot and killed one street away from where Moolla had been murdered the previous day. Sibeko said no arrests have been made for the second murder and investigations are ongoing.

When Our City News arrived on the scene, a brightly coloured blanket covered the body. A black work boot protruded from one end and a thick pool of blood collected at the other. The body was lying outside a doorway at the end of a narrow alley off Philip Bandes Street. Graffiti used by the Varados gang to mark their territory could be seen painted along the walls of the alley.

Armed South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members were present on the scene, while South African Police Service (SAPS) investigators placed multiple yellow markers around the body, before photographing the scene. The body was later covered in a foil blanket. Heavily armed SAPS officers tried to prevent Our City News from photographing the scene by obstructing our photographer’s view and saying: “You are not allowed to take photos here. This is a crime scene.” This was despite Our City News staying behind the police tape cordon.

OCN spoke to several bystanders on condition of anonymity. “I heard at least 17 shots,” said a resident from a nearby house. “I ran outside and I saw two men running away up that street where the children are playing soccer. They fired another shot, maybe to chase the people away,” the person said, pointing up the road to where young children were playing soccer.

“I don’t know if this guy was involved in the gangs. Maybe he saw something. They kill you if they think you might have seen them do something bad,” said another man.

A female bystander voiced her frustration at soldiers guarding the scene. “Give us those guns so we can do the job for you. Then you can sit and relax.” Another bystander said they had lived in Westbury all their life (more than 50 years) and this was the worst that gang violence had ever been in the area. “We would like to know who the hidden hand is that is behind all of this.”

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Gunfire an everyday fact of life in Westbury

Whether the two murders are linked to Westbury’s ongoing gang conflict remains unknown, but for residents they are two more deaths in a community where gunfire has become woven into everyday life.

While the motive for the latest killings is unknown, they come only weeks after a series of shootings left 10 young people dead. Westbury is a relatively small suburb west of Johannesburg’s CBD, an area covering barely one square kilometre, yet its residents have lived with gangsterism and gang violence for decades.

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Almost every family here has a story about how gangs have touched their lives. If it is not a father or an uncle, it is a son or cousin who has been lured by the money and promise of a fast life that gangs can offer young men who see few other opportunities available to them. Even families with no connection to the gangs have found themselves caught in the crossfire of the two groups that dominate much of Westbury, the Varados and the Fast Guns.

‘We have a monster in our community’

On Tuesday, Our City News spent time with Bridget “Aunty Bree” Munnik, a long-time resident of Westbury and “actionist” who works at the Westbury Youth Centre. Munnik said she was worried for her community as not a day goes by without something happening.

“I’m so sad for my community… We have a monster in our community. In fact, it’s an elephant in the room and we can’t keep ignoring it; we must deal with it. I am talking about the drug dealers,” she said.

Independent police and crime analyst David Bruce argues that the endurance of gang culture is partly rooted in the alienation experienced by young people who find in gangs something wider society has failed to provide: belonging, status and recognition. Once that identity becomes intertwined with drugs and crime, pulling people back out becomes extraordinarily difficult.

SAPS data cited by Bruce recorded 58 gang-related murders across Gauteng during the 2025/26 financial year. While that number is dramatically lower than the Western Cape’s 1,357, Bruce argues this may itself be part of Gauteng’s problem where gang violence competes with numerous other serious policing priorities and may never receive the sustained attention required to dismantle it.

Gang violence nothing new in Westbury

Gang violence and murder is nothing new in Westbury, but many residents say it is the worst it has been in a long time. In 2018, then police minister Bheki Cele deployed a 143-member task team to Westbury after protests over gangsterism, drugs and alleged police corruption. At the time, dozens of people had been killed in the area over successive years. Nearly eight years later, residents are still asking what it will take to break the cycle.

“Who is responsible for all of this? All the shootings and killings? We can’t keep doing nothing. We as parents are responsible for this and we need to stand up and say ‘enough is enough’. If you know your child is involved in all of this nonsense, you need to stand up and say enough,” Munnik said. DM

This story was produced by Our City News, a non-profit newsroom that serves the people of Johannesburg.