Cape Town - Police have revealed that at least three of the five men killed in Mfuleni at the weekend had a criminal past.
The men were shot inside a shack on Sunday afternoon. Provincial police commissioner, Thembisile Patekile, visited Mfuleni police station on Monday before proceeding to the crime scene at the corner of Polisa and Deputy Streets.
He said their investigation so far led them to believe the motive for the attack was extortion related.
“According to the information that we have, there were two armed men. One had an automatic rifle and another had a hand gun,” Patekile said.
“One of the deceased lived in that shack. It would appear that these were his friends. We suspect that the motive for the murder is extortion related, but our investigation, as it continues, will tell us if there was another motive.”
Patekile said one of the deceased was facing a rape charge.
“The owner of the shack had a rape case which was in court. Two others who died with him had previous cases, which were dealt with in 2017/18 drug cases.”
Patekile said the shooters were looking for a leader of an extortion group when they wiped out the friends.
“What we know is that they were looking for someone who normally hides in that shack.
“He is one of the leaders of an extortion group. We have no suspects, we have been given their description.
“We are pleading with the community to help us to solve this case.
“It comes as a shock to us that we had this mass shooting in Mfuleni, which has not been an issue for some time.”
Police spokesperson, Novela Potelwa, said the victims were aged between 19 and 30. Vuyo Gonono, 19, was reportedly sleeping when the unknown gunmen opened fire.
His uncle, Zandisile Marawu, said they were saddened by the murder.
“We don’t know how we are going to bury him because we didn’t expect this to happen. He was still very young. We expected so much from him. He was only 19.
Anyone with information can contact Crime Stop on 0860010111 or use the MYSAPS application to share information anonymously.