ROCKLANDS 'SKOLLIE' VAS

WAKKER cops have arrested a known Rocklands "skollie" as part of their efforts to curb the gang violence. 

Mitchells Plain has been terrorised by violence, with a number of shootings reported last week. 

The problem has been described as out of control by various Community Policing Forums (CPFs).

Following the deployment of cops on patrol in hard-hit areas, police made one arrest. 

Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi reports: “Police members focused on high-visibility patrols to quell ongoing gang violence in hotspot areas when they entered a premises in Pikkewyn Street in Rocklands and ensued with a search. 

“They recovered a pistol hidden on the premises for which they detained a 26-year-old man who is affiliated to a known gang grouping for the possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition."

Swartbooi added that the "skollie" will appear in the Mitchells Plain Magistrates Court once charged.

This comes after shootings in Lentegeur and Tafelsig last week.

In Tafelsig, two teens were gunned down in a drive-by last Tuesday. 

At the time, chairperson of the Mitchells Plain CPF Norman Jantjies said the community is under siege and the violence was affecting households across the suburb. 

He called for an urgent commission of enquiry. 

On Wednesday after a man was shot dead in his car in Lentegeur, the local CPF chairman Michael Jacobs called on the deployment of SANDF troops in the Plain to stop the violence. 

He said: “This ongoing violence and deadly shootings within the Lentegeur precinct… we want to once again reiterate the call that normal policing cannot continue under these current circumstances.”

“We reiterated our call for the President to institute a commission of inquiry into gang violence on the Cape Flats. 

“Under these abnormal circumstances, not only in Lentegeur but in most areas on the Cape Flats, we are plagued with gang violence and deadly shootings. We call for the immediate deployment of the SANDF to act as a stabiliser.”