Two children, one man wounded in separate shootings in Manenberg

Police spokesperson Captain Novela Potelwa said police units, including the Anti-Gang Unit, responded by fanning out to conduct raids in search of the perpetrators.

According to police, a 7-year-old boy was shot after being caught in the crossfire between “rival gangs” on Sunday night.

A 64-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl were shot in separate incidents on Monday morning, also in Manenberg.

“It was like in a war,” the dad of the 7-year-old boy told News24.

He said he was waiting anxiously for news of his son, who was in surgery for four hours as doctors tried to remove a bullet from his kidney.

He was screaming like he was having a nightmare. I closed his mouth to keep him quiet [during the shooting] but then I saw the bullet in his backAnonymous father

“The shots just rang out,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The family lives in a Wendy house. Just after midnight shots rang out.

“He was screaming like he was having a nightmare. I closed his mouth to keep him quiet [during the shooting] but then I saw the bullet in his back,” said the distressed dad.

Because their house is wooden, the bullets just cut through, also hitting the television.

He cannot understand why his house was hit. “I am not a gangster,” he said.

The family is also struggling financially, with work drying up during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Potelwa said that an operational plan informed by a crime pattern analysis was unfolding in the identified hotspots, and that communities in these areas would see several operations and raids from time to time.

She asked affected communities to report any unlawful acts to the police.

This includes illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Information can be relayed to the police on 08600 10111 or via MySAPS app. All information provided will be treated with strict confidentiality.

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