Police Minister Bheki Cele has urged the multi-disciplinary team investigating the recent multiple murders in Khayelitsha to work around the clock and ensure that all suspects linked to the case are brought to book.
This comes after a 32-year-old male suspect has been arrested in connection with the murders. The suspect is expected to make an appearance in court today on charges of murder and attempted murder.
In a statement, police said preliminary evidence suggested that there was more than one suspect.
Cele, accompanied by his Deputy Cassel Mathale, National Deputy Commissioner: for Policing, Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola and the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Yolisa Matakata, on Tuesday visited the crime scene at Site B.
Seven people were fatally shot while seven others, including a six-year-old child, were injured in an attack on Sunday morning.
During the visit, the Minister condemned the crime, particularly as this happened while the Western Cape's Operation Lockdown, a ministerial intervention to stabilise the crime situation in the province, appears to be yielding positive results.
The intervention, said the Ministry in a statement, has already seen thousands of arrests made for serious and violent crime, as well as the recovery of scores of illegal firearms and drugs.
"Crime prevention and combatting operations such as ‘Lockdown’ in the Western Cape and ‘O Kae Molao’ in Gauteng, must be intensified and become a way of life. Equally, the approach to the recent safer festive season operations must become a benchmark in the South African Police Service where the same approach is adopted to fight crime throughout the year.
“There is no excuse for dropping the ball after the festive season. Police are constitutionally mandated to prioritise the safety of all citizens at all times, not only over the Festive Season," emphasized the Minister.
The Minister, in response to the realisation that liquor is a common denominator in the contact crime category including murder, instructed Police to join hands with respective state liquor authorities, and embark on operations that will see illegal liquor outlets shut down and the irresponsible consumption of liquor curbed. – SAnews.gov.za
