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Recent gun battles have left a trail of bodies across the province as armed robbers targeting businesses clash with police and security forces in bloody confrontations.
This week automatic gunfire again erupted in exchanges between police and bandits in the latest wave of business robberies.
Innocent lives have not been spared.
On Thursday, two such incidents were witnessed in Qonce and Dikeni (formerly Alice), just 62km apart.
Armed robbers pounced on a Jet clothing shop leading to an exchange of gunfire between them and law enforcement which resulted in the death of a suspected robber.
On Tuesday, a suspected robber was killed in Komga when police cornered robbers at a SPAR supermarket in the area. Three other robbers were shot and wounded by police.
In Dikeni, an armed robber held security at gunpoint leading to an exchange of gunfire between them and police which resulted in two bystanders getting injured in the crossfire.
Between May and earlier this week, there was a spate of shootings in the East London and Mthatha areas involving business robberies, suspected hits and cash-in-transit incidents.
Shooting incidents that gripped East London, Mthatha, and surrounds in the past three months have raised questions over the safety of the public from gun-wielding thugs.
In May eight robbers were arrested and their firearms seized after a robbery at a pension pay point in Mbizana.
The University of Fort Hare’s fleet and transport manager, Petrus Roets, was shot dead in a suspected hit near the traffic lights at the Gonubie off-ramp from the national road. He was driving home from the university’s Alice campus when he was attacked by two gunmen, who then sped off.
Three taxi bosses were shot dead in Mzamba, Mbizana, by unknown gunmen. They were identified as Xolani Nzimande, Themba Yalo and Mthetheleli Mbukuqa.
In June Eastern Cape police launched a manhunt after armed suspects allegedly made off with an undisclosed amount of money during a cash-in-transit robbery along the N2 highway near Tina Bridge.
An armed response officer attending to an armed robbery was shot and wounded at a Pep Stores outlet in Vincent, East London. The alleged robbers fled with an undisclosed sum of money and the security officer’s firearm, but left behind the goods they had gathered to steal.
Former national boxing champion Ndoda Mayende was shot dead in his Duncan Village home in East London.
A shop assistant, a 24-year-old foreigner, was shot dead during a robbery in Matholanyile village in Qhumanco near Cofimvaba. The killing led to violence between foreigners and locals in the area resulting in the death of a local man.
In July three men were gunned down in Duncan Village. Two bodies were found about 15m from a tavern, near Kusile Comprehensive High School in Msimango Street, while another body was found in Jabavu Street.
An Eastern Cape woman and her two young daughters were found dead in a pool of blood in Zingqolweni in Cacadu. Her one-year-old grandchild, still alive, was sitting quietly with their bodies. The three were shot execution-style in the back of their heads.
Gun Free SA’s researcher, Claire Taylor, said the ready availability of guns in SA made crime more deadly.
“Guns are designed to kill, and the increasing flood of guns and ammunition into our country since late 2010 means more gun violence. Currently 23 people are shot and killed every day in SA,” Taylor said.
Taylor said most gun related shootings in SA were committed with illegal guns, “but almost all illegal guns were once legal before being leaked into criminal hands”.
Provincial police said they were prioritising businesses in their patrols.
“Every police station has its own operational or strategic plans and crime is addressed on a daily basis and deployment of personnel is according to their crime pattern analysis,” said provincial police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli.
“Provincial management analyses serious crime on a daily basis and direction is given to those station areas that are of concern.
“Provincial operations are also conducted from time to time in these station areas to reduce increasing crime levels. Specialised units are roped in, if necessary to provide expertise and information in relation to certain serious crimes,” Nkohli said.
Nkohli urged business people to assist police in creating a safer environment.
“While police efforts in preventing and combating crime is continuous, businesses must also accept the onus of ensuring that their premises are adequately secure. We urge businesses to update their security systems and cameras frequently, as these are important in police investigations,” said Nkohli.
Provincial community safety spokesperson Unathi Binqose said the shootings had a bad effect on innocent lives.
“By innocent lives we mean civilians and law enforcement. We are doing everything possible as government to plead with people, especially young ones, to desist from resorting to crime. We are also warning those who have resorted to criminal activities to rather use their energies towards things that are helpful to society.
“We are commending police for doing a good job by preventing these criminal incidents from happening and protecting the lives of people and businesses,” Binqose said.
Taylor said reducing gun availability by recovering and destroying illegal guns and stricter controls over legal guns to stop them leaking into the illegal pool was central to creating a safer, more secure SA.
“Moves to tighten gun control will be met with massive opposition from a small minority. But gun violence reduction is not about compromise, it is about public safety,” Taylor said.
“Poor implementation of SA’s Firearms Control Act by the state, poor compliance by gun owners, including exploitation of loopholes in the law to accumulate weapons and ammunition, fraud and corruption by all stakeholders in the firearms chain, from the police to gun dealers, trainers, associations and owners, theft of state and civilian firearms as well as smuggling of firearms, most notably high calibre weapons for use in organised crime, have contributed to rising gun numbers, and rising gun violence, in SA.”
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