Plastic City residents flee in fear amid gunfire and blaze
Mothers spoke of grabbing their children and running into the night with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Scenes echoing the chaos that shook Plastic City earlier this year unfolded once again in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday), as gunfire and flames forced residents of the settlement to flee for their lives.
At the time of publication, Brakpan police had not responded to the Brakpan Herald’s request for more information.
Details remained unclear and the exact sequence of events was yet to be confirmed.
According to residents, gunfire erupted in the early morning hours, and a fire also swept through the settlement, destroying homes. It was not yet known whether the two incidents are connected.
The Herald visited the area this morning and, although there were signs of an obvious commotion in the early hours, the situation appeared calm.
People were seen going about their daily business, pulling recycling trolleys, while some children in school uniforms made their way to school.
There was also regular morning traffic along the road through the settlement.
A 40-year-old woman told the Herald how she fled her home with her three children when the gunfire erupted.
She has been living in Plastic City for the past 13 years. Her twin girls are eight years old, and her son is 13.
The woman has no other family.
When she heard gunshots, she grabbed her children, one blanket and ran to a nearby field where she stayed until the disturbance settled. They returned early in the morning.
“I do not know where the fire came from but I think my house was damaged in the fire. We will have no place to stay,” she said.
“We only have the clothes that we are wearing. My children go to school in Kwa-Thema. I will not be able to send them to school today.
“I do not know what I am going to do but I’m afraid to go and see what is left of my house.”
The Herald spoke to another mother, a 27-year-old with four children, aged one, four, seven and 12, who also fled their home.
She heard the gunfire after 01:00, and grabbed as many of her belongings as she could.
The woman spent the rest of the morning in a safer spot guarding her children and belongings.
“I am very concerned because I do not know if my house was damaged or destroyed in the fire but I am also too scared to go and see for myself,” she said.
“For now I have the few belongings we managed to grab when we fled.
“I do not know when I will go back. We live in fear every day.”
Residents of the settlement, including women and children, fled the settlement earlier this year when a violent outbreak occurred over the weekend of February 8 and 9, resulting in three fatalities.
All were gunshot victims. There was also a motorbike hijacking, involving a panga attack.
More recently, a shooting at the Weltevreden Landfill Site on July 8 highlighted ongoing criminal activities in the vicinity of the settlement.
Chaos erupted when armed men stormed the dump site that afternoon, opened fire, and then made their way to the settlement.
It was reported that a group of about 15 alleged Basotho nationals opened fire on landfill workers before moving into Plastic City and fleeing into the fields.
A 36-year-old man was shot in both thighs and taken to hospital. Police recovered 23 high-calibre shell casings at the scene.
This past month has seen a rise in deadly incidents.
A fatal shooting in the settlement on August 10 left one man dead inside his bakkie.
Police responded to reports of gunshots in the settlement at around 20:55.
Upon arrival, police members discovered a motionless body of an adult male with gunshot wounds to his head inside a Fiat bakkie.
The last two weekends have also been deadly. Read more here: Murder cases mount in Plastic City after second weekend of killings
