Premier welcomes swift arrest of shooting suspects

THE IMPLEMENTATION of the 72-hour Activation Plan following the attack on partygoers in Mandalay on Saturday evening has led to the arrest of three suspects.

The shooting which claimed the life of a 24-year-old woman, and injured seven others, including a 5-year-old child, prompted the police to implement the plan.

Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said in pursuit of the suspects, AntiGang Unit detectives conducted a tracing operation on Sunday night, and arrested the suspects aged 22, 35 and 38, who were all from Mitchells Plain.

Once charged, the suspects would be due in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder and attempted murder, he said.

A witness, David Mafate, 54, said he didn’t know the people who were partying at the house, all he knew was that they had hired the venue to celebrate a 21st birthday, as it has an open space at the garage.

Premier Alan Winde, and Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz, met Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile to receive a briefing on their response following the gang related shooting.

“We are devastated by the news of this mass shooting which claimed the life of one person and injured many others, including young children. No stone must be left unturned in ensuring that all those responsible are brought to book and end up behind bars,” said Winde.

He welcomed the swift arrest of three suspects following a tracing operation by the Anti-Gang Unit. He said they would look into proactive steps crime intelligence could take to prevent the horrific incident from repeating itself.

“We cannot allow our communities to live in a constant state of fear and to be terrorised by gangsters,” he said.

Fritz said violence had absolutely no place in society. He called on the community to come forward and share any information they might have which would result in the successful prosecution of the guilty parties.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stop anonymously at 08600 0111 or via the MySAPSApp.