Eighteen people were killed when eight gunmen opened fire at a bar near Johannesburg on Saturday evening.
In a separate attack early on Sunday, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town. Another 11 people were injured.
Speaking to Channel Africa on Monday, Crime Analyst Dorothy Mmushi said the shootings reflected the scale of firearm violence across SA. “It is a very sombre reflection of the state of gun violence in SA,” Mmushi said.
“It is an indication that we have a growing problem when it comes to organised crime and how guns are being used in the commission of crimes.”
Mmushi said firearms entered criminal networks through black-market sales, theft from police storage facilities, poor controls by private security companies and robberies targeting licensed owners. “Even though the firearm might be legal, the problem is that it becomes an illegal firearm once it gets into the wrong hands,” Mmushi said.
Illegal firearms were frequently used by organised criminal groups involved in illegal mining, drug trafficking and territorial conflicts.
Mmushi said the SA Police Service should work more closely with the private-security regulator and other agencies to trace firearms and prevent weapons from entering criminal markets.
Specialised anti-gang units also required additional personnel, resources and technology. “A lot of the anti-gang units, especially the one in Cape Town, are under-resourced,” Mmushi said.
“If you are saying you’ve got a scourge of gang violence, you need to resource those specialised units adequately.”
Mmushi said investigators needed better digital tools, including cyber-tracking capabilities, to identify organised networks and prevent further attacks.
Current policing strategies remained predominantly reactive rather than focused on prevention. “Our current strategies are more reactive as opposed to proactive,” Mmushi said.
Mmushi called for stronger cooperation between police, communities and community policing forums, warning that declining public trust was making investigations more difficult. “A lot of crimes are solved with the engagement of the community,” Mmushi said.
“If people are not comfortable reporting crime or sharing information with the police, that brings a deficit in our ability to fight crime.”
–ChannelAfrica–
