By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Five suspects have been arrested in connection with the fatal mass shooting at the Marikana Informal Settlement in Phillipi East, Western Cape.
Their arrest comes after Western Cape police launched a manhunt after three men and one woman were killed and another individual was injured on Saturday evening.
SA Police Services (SAPS) spokesperson Novela Potelwa says two firearms were recovered during the apprehension.
“The arrests were effected early on Monday morning (March 9) as part of a tracing operation that was initiated after the shooting incident occurred on Disa Road in the Marikana informal settlement of Philippi East, “Potelwa said.
“The tracing operation led to the arrests and confiscation of firearms that will be undergoing ballistics tests to determine if they were utilised in the commission of the murders and other crimes”.
The suspects, aged between 25 and 35, have been charged with murder, attempted murder, as well as the illegal possession of firearms. They are expected to appear in court in due course.
The motive for the incident is believed to be linked to the crime of extortion.
This incident comes exactly a month after President Cyril Ramaphosa promised the deployment of the South African National Defence Force in violence-stricken communities to protect ordinary citizens.
With almost 26,000 homicides in 2024, or more than 70 per day on average, South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in these killings. Although the nation of 62 million people has comparatively stringent gun control laws, officials said many killings are carried out using illegal firearms.
Meanwhile On 10 February 2026, the Global Coalition for WHO Action on Gun Violence launched with more than 100 organisations across 40 countries, including a range of South African organisations spanning healthcare, child and women’s rights, legal advocacy, violence prevention, and research. The coalition’s formation was accompanied by a stark finding: not one of the World Health Assembly’s 3,200-plus adopted resolutions explicitly mentions firearms.
This is a profound gap. The WHO sets global standards that shape national health policy across 194 member states. When it fails to treat gun violence as a health priority, countries like South Africa are left without the international frameworks, evidence, and technical guidance they need to act.
The WHO has done this before, with other contested, politically sensitive issues — tobacco, HIV/AIDS, alcohol, violence against women — each time moving them from marginal concerns into mainstream public health priorities with measurable results. A resolution on road safety catalysed legislative reform in more than 100 countries. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control contributed to lasting reductions in global tobacco use. The same is possible for gun violence.
The coalition is calling on the WHO to take ten key actions, including strengthening guidance on gun-related healthcare and supporting countries to use health systems as sites of gun violence prevention. South Africa — with some of the highest rates of gun violence in the world and a documented track record of evidence-based intervention — is uniquely placed not just to support this coalition, but to lead it by sponsoring a World Health Assembly resolution on firearm violence.