An innocent young man has died and a 13-year-old boy was injured as gang shootings flared up in Manenberg.
The heartbroken family of Zuandre "Ajax" Davids, 28, were left traumatised on Thursday night when they found his bullet-ridden body in Twister Street.
Zuandre sold vegetables at a stalletjie in Lansdowne, says his aunt Jacqueline Grobus, 51.
VICTIM: Zuandre ‘Ajax’ Davids, 28
“He got his nickname Ajax from the time he was at high school,” she says.
“He was a talented soccer player and all he wanted was to play for Ajax.
“When he was a teenager he made it into one of Ajax’s teams and he got the name.
“The police declared him dead on the scene and we are not sure if he was robbed because he didn’t have a cellphone and didn’t have money.
“He lives with his sister and went to a shop near her house, but it was closed so he walked to a shop further away and was shot when he was coming back.
“We don’t understand why he was shot and we don’t know if they thought he was someone else because he worked every day selling potatoes and was never involved with gangsters.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirms the shooting and says detectives are following up on leads to solve the case.
Earlier that day Frank Vutula, 13, was rushed to hospital after a stray bullet penetrated his mother’s hokkie in Ray Alexander Street and struck him in the right leg.
WOUNDED: Frank Vutula, 13, was hit by a stray bullet in his leg
The young soccer player and Grade 8 learner from Bridgetown High School says he was sitting at the kitchen table playing on his cellphone when the shooting started.
Mom Nosipho, 42, says she was washing the dishes when she saw Frank fall from his chair.
“The bullet came right through the kitchen and hit him,” she says.
“I got such a fright and we rushed him to the hospital where they said the bone was cracked.
WOUNDED: Frank Vutula, 13, was hit by a stray bullet in his leg
“He was discharged on the same day.
“He is very traumatised, I can see how scared he gets.”
Van Wyk says no arrests have been made.