By Bhekizenzo Zonele
The death toll from a mass shooting in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, has risen to four after two more African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) members died from their injuries.
The victims were among mourners who were allegedly attacked by a gunman on Tuesday evening while returning from a memorial service for an ANC Women’s League member who was shot dead about two weeks ago.
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The shooting occurred at about 18:50 on Sophangisa Street in Katlehong North, shortly after the mourners left a memorial service at Mogobeng Primary School.
Two men, aged 21 and 23, were declared dead at the scene, while five people aged between 12 and 27 were taken to hospital.
The latest deaths, confirmed on Wednesday, bring the number of fatalities to four. Three other people were wounded in the attack, but their conditions have not been disclosed.
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni confirmed that two of the hospitalised victims were children aged 11 and 14.
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The suspect, reportedly a former councillor in the area, handed himself over to police after the shooting and remains in custody.
Police have opened cases of murder and attempted murder. The Gauteng Political Killings Task Team has been assigned to investigate the shooting.
Information gathered at the scene indicated that the mourners encountered a black Hyundai Staria minibus shortly before the shooting.
Witnesses said some survivors attempted to make contact with the vehicle before its driver allegedly abandoned it at the scene.
The attack has raised concerns about possible politically motivated violence in Ekurhuleni, given that the victims had attended a memorial service for an ANC member who was recently murdered.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi was asked whether the killing of the ANC Women’s League member and the subsequent shooting of the youth league members could be connected.
“For now, we’ve allowed the police to conclude the investigations. We can only speculate because we do not have the necessary evidence that can indicate that the incidents are related,” Lesufi said.
The ANCYL condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
“The recurrence of such incidents within the same community raises serious concerns about the safety of our people and the escalating scourge of violent crime,” the league said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The Katlehong shooting was one of three separate shooting incidents reported in Ekurhuleni on Tuesday evening, prompting Lesufi to visit several crime scenes.
“These are three incidents that we are dealing with this evening in Ekurhuleni,” he said.
Lesufi said authorities received information about another shooting in Vosloorus while they were still attending to the Katlehong scene.
“While we were still at the scene, we received a call that another man was shot in Vosloorus,” he said.
The Vosloorus shooting was believed to have resulted from a dispute and was not thought to be connected to the Katlehong attack, according to information received by the premier.
Authorities were later alerted to a third shooting in Birch Acres, near Kempton Park, where a man was reportedly shot dead inside his vehicle.
“When we were still at the scene in Vosloorus, we were also notified that in Kempton Park or Thembisa, in the area called Birch Acres, a man was shot dead in his car,” Lesufi said.
Authorities have not established any links between the three shootings, which occurred in Ekurhuleni on Tuesday evening.
The incidents have heightened concerns about violent crime in the municipality.
