South Africa: Shooting in Cape Town's Khayelitsha area June 7 leaves four people dead

Event

Unidentified assailants shot and killed four people near a supermarket in the Site B area of Khayelitsha in Cape Town the evening of June 7. The victims included two Somali and two Malawian nationals. The motive for the attack is unclear; however, officials suspect that the incident was extortion-related.

Context

Khayelitsha is a township on the Cape Flats in Cape Town, which lies to the east of the city center. The incident marks the latest in a string of mass casualty shootings in the area in recent weeks. Officials have linked the incidents to organized criminal networks and believe many of the shootings were motivated by extortion rackets enforced by local gangs.

The Cape Flats carries a heightened threat of crime, particularly violent crimes such as murder, assault, and rape when compared to the wider Cape Town area. Security is typically better in and around tourist areas, middle-class areas, and prominent business locations; however, these areas are not immune to street crimes, robbery, and burglary. Cape Town shares the same nationwide high threat of crime. The crime threat is unlikely to diminish over the medium term, given ongoing policing deficiencies and severe socio-economic constraints. Police Minister Bheki Cele released the country's quarterly (Jan. 1-March 31) crime statistics June 3. Updated statistics indicate that serious violent crime has increased significantly. Murders had increased 22% compared to the same period in 2021; over 6,000 cases were reported. Over the same period, approximately 5,500 attempted murders and 13,000 sexual offenses had been reported.