Four injured as gang war rocks Kensington

A GANG drive-by shooting rocked Kensington on Saturday morning, leaving four men injured.

The four men between the ages of 26 and 32 years were standing on the corner of 12th Street and 6th Avenue when a speeding white Toyota Etios with three occupants pulled up and unleashed a hail of bullets. 

One victim sustained two gunshot wounds to the chest while the other three victims were shot in the legs.

It is alleged that the shooting is gang-related as there has been a fight among two local rival gangs, believed to be the Americans and the Nice Time Kids.

Police spokesperson Ndakhe Gwala confirmed that four counts of attempted murder are under investigation with no arrests made as yet.

“Kensington Police registered four counts of attempted murder, following a shooting incident that occurred at the corner of 12th Street and 6th Avenue in Kensington. At around 9.44am, four males aged between 26 and 32 were standing in the street, a white Toyota Etios with three occupants, drove by and started shooting.

“One of the victims sustained two gunshot wounds on his chest while the other three sustained wounds to their legs. 

“The motive for the shooting is a subject of police investigation, no arrest has been made yet,” Gwala said.

Local ward councilor Cheslyn Steenberg said that they have tried to intervene in order to bring the rival gangs together for peace talks, however one side does not want to participate.

Steenberg said: “This is gang-related. The men are alleged members of one of the local gangs. We will never know the real reason behind this current gang violence happening in the community but what we do know from our information on the ground is that it’s a fight between two local gangs. 

“Sadly, the gang violence is affecting everyone in the community and I am quite concerned because schools are opening in the next few days. I hope we can find a solution and peace to this that will benefit everybody. 

“From my office side, we are constantly trying to broker peace with the support of our religious and community leaders in the ward but it is difficult if all parties are not willing to come to the table.  One gang is willing to talk peace, the other is not willing to talk peace."

Another concern Steenberg noted was community members shielding gangs' guns and ammunition at their homes. 

“My office has started the process where we are reporting known city houses and rentals to the relevant departments within the city who are harboring these gangsters and their guns.”