Heavily pregnant mom shot dead in Cape Town
A heavily pregnant mother of two was killed in a hail of bullets in Manenberg while walking to a shop with a friend to buy prepaid electricity.
SANDF members patrol the streets of Manenberg on May 21, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / The Times / Esa Alexander)
Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said members of the police’s Anti-Gang Unit found the 26-year-old woman dead in Tambo Village on Thursday at about 9.30pm.
She had sustained several gunshot wounds to her body.
“At the time of her death she was eight months pregnant and a mother of two minors. The victim was on her way to purchase electricity with her 29-year-old friend, who was also wounded in his left upper leg during the incident,” Van Wyk said.
“Members received information of a possible firearm at a premises in Lillian Ngoyi Street, Tambo Village. As the information was followed up, members found one male and two females between the ages of 22 and 29 in possession of a prohibited firearm. The firearm was confiscated and booked in as exhibit.”
The gun will be sent for ballistic tests to determine if it was used in the commission of crime, Van Wyk confirmed.
Police received a tip linking suspects to the murder. This led to the arrest of four men aged between 18 and 28.
“Further information gathered identified the perpetrators as members of a local gang,” he said.
Members of the South African National Defence Force have been deployed for three months to assist the police in stemming the blood flow in Manenberg, as well as Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Elsies River, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Philippi and Kraaifontein.
According to statistics, these 10 most gang-ridden precincts in Cape Town contributed to 42% of attempted murders in the province.
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