Cape Town - Police are investigating four murders after an alleged vigilante attack and a fatal attack on security guards.
Police were called to the first scene in Samora Machel, where they discovered two males who had been stoned to death after they had been accused of being robbers yesterday.
Manenberg police spokesperson Captain Ian Bennett said the men had sustained several wounds to their bodies.
“On Wednesday, October 19, two males aged 25 were found stoned to death in Samora Machel,” he said.
“It is alleged that the two males were involved in robberies in and around the local area.
“Their rampage of robberies was put to an end when community members cornered them.
“(The community having taken) the law into their own hands, the two males were stoned to death.
“The two males died of serious fatal wounds to their upper bodies.
“A case of double murder has been opened for investigation. No arrest has been made.”
During the second incident, police arrived at the scene near Samora Machel, along Dumanokwe and Weltevrede Parkway roads, where two security guards had been ambushed and killed using firearms.
Police have yet to determine the motive for the attack, as nothing was taken from the guards.
Police said the men had been inside their vehicles when they were attacked.
Bennett explained: “Two male security personnel aged 30 and 40 years old were gunned down as they provided protection services.”
“At 2.07pm, October 19, two male security personnel came under attack while they were busy with escort and protection duties.
“The two male victims were travelling in their security vehicle and, as they approached Dumanokwe Road and Weltevrede Parkway Road, suspects opened fire on the unsuspecting victims, killing them instantly.
“Both victims succumbed to fatal gunshot wounds to their upper bodies. The suspects fled the scene without taking anything. This senseless killing is and has been strongly condemned. A case of murder has been opened for investigation. No arrest has been made.”
Between January and March 2022, 16 cases of vigilantism, the most in the province, occurred in the Nyanga cluster, and 11 each, which is joint second, in the Khayelitsha and Blue Downs clusters. Countrywide during the 2021/2022 financial year, there were 1 353 cases of vigilantism.
In June, MEC for Community Safety and Police Oversight Reagan Allen said there had been an increase in vigilantism in the Western Cape.
He said at the time that SAPS crime statistics over the four quarters of the 2021/2022 financial year indicated that in the Western Cape there had been 227 murder cases linked to vigilantism and/or mob justice.
Anyone with information regarding criminal activity is asked not to take the law into his or her own hands, but rather to report these incidents to Crime Stop 0860 010 111.