The soil had barely settled on the grave of Ayanda Ngetu when another victim was claimed by a gang of Khayelitsha teens.
|||Cape Town - The soil had barely settled on the grave of Ayanda Ngetu when another victim was killed by teenage Khayelitsha gangsters.
Residents, none of who wished to be named, told the Cape Argus how the second attack this month unfolded near Bulumko Secondary School.
Late on Saturday, two dozen teenage boys, reportedly affiliated to the Mavura gang of Town 2, Khayelitsha, strolled into F Section to the street where Ngetu was killed a week before. Without warning, they pulled out knives and descended on three F-Section boys standing on the corner of Tanga Street and Mvuzo Crescent.
In the ensuing scuffle, two of the F-Section boys were stabbed, but a third - 18-year-old Zimvo Kanyiso Jaxa - came off worst. He was stabbed in the chest several times and died later in Khayelitsha Hospital.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said nine people had been questioned in relation to the murder, and arrests were imminent.
The Cape Argus reported on youth gangs, many of whom are pupils at Bulumko High School, holding the community hostage after Ngetu was killed under similar circumstances in the early hours of May 5.
At the time, Bulumko High principal Bernard Hlongwane admitted fighting between gangs had escalated dramatically since late last year. When the Cape Argus visited the school on Wednesday, he refused to comment.
The provincial Department of Education confirmed that a group of knife-wielding teenagers had breached the school’s perimeter on Monday afternoon, threatening teachers and pupils. No one was injured.
The department sent staff to monitor and “stabilise the school environment”.
Meanwhile, parents and community leaders are meeting nightly in a bid to find a solution to the violence.
Ward councillor Patrick Mngxunyeni explained the objectives of the meetings: “We need to acknowledge that the whole community needs to team with police in fighting this crime. Parents need to take the message back to their kids.
“They need to stop protecting the children who are involved in the gang fights, especially those who are the ringleaders.
“We must also guard against the community taking matters into their own hands by resorting to vigilante justice. That is why we invite police to attend the meetings.”
daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za
Cape Argus