In the past two days, six individuals have lost their lives to gun violence in a crime-ridden area of Cape Town, contributing to the city’s mounting death toll, which is already heavily burdened by gang-related violence.
At 11:30 PM on Monday, two women—19 and 25 years old—were killed, and a 24-year-old woman was injured in a shooting at Wallacedene, an informal settlement in the northeastern part of Cape Town. Shortly thereafter, approximately 10 minutes later, two other females in their twenties were fatally shot in the head in a bedroom in the same area, raising suspicions of a connection between the deaths, as reported by South African police.
This tragic incident follows the deaths of a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old—of undisclosed genders—after being shot in the neighboring area of Eikendal the previous day.
On September 5, an unknown male was shot and killed at a magistrates court, suspected to be a result of gang violence. This incident marks the third killing in a Cape Town court since April.
Cape Town stands as one of the most violent cities globally, situated in a country that boasts one of the highest murder rates worldwide, trailing only Jamaica and Ecuador, according to data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Last year, Cape Town bore the second-highest murder rate of any municipality in South Africa, following Nelson Mandela Bay, and ranked 16th highest worldwide, according to Seguridad Justicia y Paz, a Mexican NGO.
Over 2.4 million tourists visited Cape Town in 2024, drawn by its scenic beauty—beaches, mountains, and near vineyards. However, the city remains divided between affluent suburbs and impoverished Cape Flats townships, where people of color were displaced to during the apartheid era due to the Group Areas Act of 1950.
Lynn Phillips, from the Cape Flats Safety Forum, expressed the community’s fear at an anti-gang protest, pointing out the stark reality of gun violence in their daily lives, unlike anything seen in media entertainment.
Western Cape police have initiated “targeted operations” in violent hotspots across Cape Flats, aiming to seize firearms and ammunition. They assert that such weapons and those benefiting from them are unwelcome in their communities, promising continued efforts to eradicate gangsterism and its associated violence.
Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia, speaking to community members from Cape Flats, revealed that local authorities lack the necessary capabilities for “intelligence-driven operations” to effectively combat gang activities and organized crime. He criticized the absence of a concrete plan to address gang violence in Cape Town, pointing out the disparity with the city and province’s governance by his national coalition partners, the Democratic Alliance.
According to South African police data, the country witnessed over 26,000 murders last year. Cape Town accounted for nearly 3,500 of these deaths, as per information from Seguridad Justicia y Paz.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/10/cape-town-shootings-six-people-dead-two-days
