Durban — The Hammarsdale community is breathing a sigh of relief after the police shot and killed six suspects during a midnight gunfight. For years, had allegedly terrorised the Durban West community.
The six alleged gang members were said to have wreaked havoc in the Durban West, unleashing a reign of terror where they allegedly extorted businesses.
The police rounded on the suspects in South Beach Avenue in the Point, Durban, area, and a shoot-out ensued, leaving all six dead. No police were hurt.
This is after the police pounced on the suspects, in what has been dubbed as a well-orchestrated operation, who are said to have opened fire when the police ordered them to lie on the ground.
A local community policing forum member in Hammarsdale, Simiso Mkhize, said the community was “relieved” that the people who were tormenting them were killed.
However, he warned: “We are happy that the police have reacted in this way. But we know that these people operate as gangs. There are still some of them in the community who will remain and continue to terrorise.”
Another CPF member, who did not want to be named, said: “We hope the police will continue to crack down on the suspects who are making our lives a living nightmare. Our area (Hammarsdale) has become a hotbed of crime. Despite our efforts as CPF members, we are unable to defeat it because we also fear for our lives. We are scared of being killed.”
A community policing forum member in South Beach, Smiso Ngcobo, said the area has become a hideout for criminals.
“We have many who live here who are on the run … It is difficult for us to deal with crime here (ward 26) because the area is full of people who are not from here, including foreign nationals.”
Ngcobo called for the police to launch a series of crackdowns in the crime-infested South Beach.
“Unless the police prioritise this area in terms of cracking down on criminals who are hiding here, many people will continue to use this area as a refuge when they run from the cops,” he said.
A business owner in the city centre, who did not want to be named, said: “I have been robbed two times in the past three weeks. Crime is high in this area, and I think it’s due to drugs sold here. Police must clean up this area.”
The suspects were linked to a series of execution-style murders, and also extortion of local businesses in Hammarsdale and Mariannhill.
Following the murders, the provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda said: “Police were tracing suspects who had shot five people, and killed four of them execution-style on Siyaphambili Road in Tshelimnyama in Mariannhill on Sunday night.”
He said the five deceased were sitting at the side of the road, drinking alcohol, when the men arrived armed with pistols and a rifle. They allegedly ordered the seated men to lie down and shot them in the back of their heads.
In Hammarsdale, the suspects were allegedly behind a triple murder that rocked the area and were gunned down at a tuck shop.
Netshiunda said: “They were also linked with a Friday evening robbery at a shop on the ground floor of the apartment they were found in. It is also suspected that the suspects were involved in the illicit drug trade."
Before pouncing on the suspects, the police said they had traced them to Newlands East but did not find them in the area. The police widened the net and later came face-to-face with the suspects in South Beach, which led to the fatal shoot-out.
Netshiunda said police intelligence revealed that the suspects were living in a rented holiday flat in South Beach.
“When police announced their presence at the apartment, the suspects opened fire, and a shoot-out ensued. All six suspects were shot and fatally wounded,” Netshiunda said.
After combing the bloody scene, the police found three firearms.
“The firearms will be subjected to ballistic testing to ascertain if they can be linked to other crime scenes. Police are also hot on the heels of the person who booked the room for them,” Netshiunda said.
KZN police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who was also at the scene, said: “They are young, they are supposed to be in school … university. But the only thing they know is to commit crime.”
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