Daylight shooting in Mitchells Plain raises alarm over community safety

Traffic came to a standstill on the corners of Highlands Drive and Weltevreden Valley on Monday morning after a young man was gunned down inside a white Renault Stepway in a brazen shooting that sent panic through surrounding communities.

The sound of gunfire ripped through the morning rush shortly after 8.15am, with shots echoing through nearby streets as shocked residents rushed outside and others scrambled for cover.

One community member said the first two shots initially sounded like a car backfiring.

“We first thought maybe it was a car or something making a noise, but then the next shots came. There were many shots after that. People started screaming and running,” the resident said.

Some residents counted more than six shots.

According to information gathered at the scene, the driver, believed to be in his 20s, had been waiting for the traffic light to change when he was approached by armed assailants on foot.

The gunmen allegedly fired multiple shots through the front of the vehicle before opening fire from both the left and right sides of the car.

By the time emergency personnel arrived, the victim had succumbed to his injuries.

The brazen daylight attack has once again reignited concerns around ongoing violence in Mitchells Plain, despite repeated calls for increased policing and intervention in gang-ridden communities.

Speaking on behalf of the Lentegeur Community Policing Forum, Byron De Villiers described the incident as deeply disturbing.

“This morning’s shooting at the corner of Weltevreden Valley and Highlands Drive is deeply disturbing and another painful reminder of the violence tearing through our communities,” he said.

“Residents should not have to wake up to gunfire, fear, and uncertainty in the very streets where families, children, and workers move every day.

“We call on law enforcement and community leadership to act. Criminal violence cannot become normalised. Our communities deserve safety, visible policing, accountability.”

Meanwhile, Linda Jones of the Mitchells Plain United Residents Association said the shooting should serve as a “May-Day call” for communities across Mitchells Plain.

“We in Mitchells Plain are in distress,” she said.

“As MURA we are concerned and saddened about the amount of bodies that are still being picked up every day around our community, even while people cried and called out for the SANDF, thinking there would be peace. We are very concerned.”

Jones said residents needed to unite and reclaim their communities.

“We need to be real about it and take back our streets. We need to show that we really had enough. We need to break the mentality of saying we are okay because it didn’t happen to me or in my area.

“This is affecting all of us and has an effect on us. With this amount of activism the scenario should change, but it takes action in activism to achieve it. We need to send out a May-Day call as Mitchells Plain, we are in distress.”

Police spokesperson Thembakazi Mpendukana confirmed that a 23-year-old man was shot and killed in his vehicle at the corner of Weltevreden Valley and Highlands Drive at around 8.15am on Monday morning.

“Reports state that the unknown suspects fled the scene on foot and Lentegeur SAPS has opened a murder case regarding this incident. No arrest has been made and investigation continues,” Mpendukana said.

Police have appealed to anyone with information that could assist investigators to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or report anonymously through the MySAPS App.