By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on security agencies and communities to work together to bring to book the assailants in the Nomzamo and Pietermartizburg tavern shootings which collectively claimed 19 lives.
Ramaphosa said that South Africa could not allow violent criminals to “terrorise” us in this way, regardless of where such incidents may occur”.
“As government, citizens and structures of civil society we must all work together even more closely to improve social and economic conditions in communities, reduce violent crime and stamp out the illicit circulation of firearms.
“Every single violent death is unacceptable and worrying, and killings on the scale we have seen in Soweto, Pietermaritzburg and previously Khayelitsha must spur us into a collective effort to build communities and make South Africa an unsafe place for criminals.”
He expressed his condolences and offered sympathies to the families of the people who lost their lives in the two incidents, and wishes injured survivors a speedy recovery.
Police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Sello said police have launched a manhunt for the suspects after the apparent random shooting incident at the tavern located in Nomzamo informal settlement in which 15 people died and nine were injured.
Sello said 15 cases of murder and nine of attempted murder had been opened.
Gauteng provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela has condemned the incident and urged detectives investigating the case “to pull out all stops in ensuring that the perpetrators are arrested and brought to book”.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or have information that could lead to the apprehension of the suspects, is urged to report on the crime stop hotline at 08600 10111 or by giving a tip-off on the MySAPS app. All information received will be treated as strictly confidential.