Cops are investigating a double murder after gunmen opened fire on a car on Stock Road in Philippi.
Two men in the vehicle died at the scene, while the killers fled and are still at large.
It is unclear whether the deceased were taxi drivers or not.
Police spokesperson Anelisiwe Manyana says the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident on Wednesday, in Bekela informal settlement, Philippi East, where two males aged 22 and 25 were killed are under investigation.
Manyana reports: “Police members were on duty when they attended to a shooting complaint at Stock Road where they found a white Toyota Avanza with the driver inside who sustained gunshot wounds to his body.
“Next to the vehicle, they found another body of a man lying on the ground with gunshot wounds sustained to his body.
“Both victims were declared deceased on the scene by the medical personnel. The motive for the attack is yet to be determined. The unknown suspect/s are yet to be arrested.”
A Philippi East community leader suspects the killing of an infamous skollie twin is the cause of the escalation of retaliatory violence.
Councillor Mboniswa Chitha says since that murder last year, the killings have increased in the township.
Six people were murdered in a week and he says some were retaliation cases.
“This area was fairly quiet and we didn’t have as many shootings. We had twins, one of them died, and their friends were angered by this.
“They are now shooting in retaliation for their friend, and most of the victims are youngsters.
“In Philippi East some of the shootings that happen are because of revenge attacks.”
He further explains that some of the victims were killed outside the area.
“We don’t know how the police can prevent this. Last week a learner was murdered and we then found out that was also a revenge attack. There is no way that could have been prevented.
“The police are not able to fight this type of crime because they can’t arrest people before the incident happens.
“We are addressing all of this, we had a meeting at our community hall. We are trying to find a way to get the area back into order.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is kindly requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.