Police probe killings in gang violence flare-up

Bradley Jacobs was shot and killed in St Montague Village.

The family of Bradley Jacobs, 38, who was shot and killed in St Montague Village, say he must have been mistaken for someone else.

The father of six was shot multiple times at a shop not far from his home in Blaise Street on Wednesday night November 10. Police have yet to make an arrest and have urged anyone with information to come forward.

Mr Jacobs is just one of several people who have died in a flare-up of gang violence in the area.

His family say he went to the shop on the night he died to buy milk for his youngest child. They say he was a church minister, newly married, and had nothing to do with gangsters.

“People are scared and don’t want to talk because they might come and shoot us,” said a resident who declined to be named, saying he feared for his safety.

“We all know Bradley; he’s lived here for a long time, and he wasn’t a gangster.

“The gangsters are shooting innocent people. We live in fear and don’t know who will be next because they are targeting anyone.”

Steenberg police spokesperson Sergeant Luqmaan Adams said officers had found a 38-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to his body and head on the pavement in front of a shop in St Blaise Street.

There has been an increase in shootings in St Montague Village and Lavender Hill, according to Steenberg police station commander Colonel Jan Alexander.

“We need the community to work with us to catch the culprits and put an end to the shootings by coming forward with information. We desperately need their assistance because the community are the ones who see what happens.”

Shootings in the vicinity of St Boniface Road and Depsiton Crescent in Lavender Hill were linked to feuding between the Flakkas and the Fast Guns gangs, said Sergeant Adams.

There are also fears of gang conflict in Cafda Village following a drive-by shooting there, in Blagden Street, on Sunday night that claimed the life of a 38-year-old woman and left three other people, including a 16-year-old, wounded.

Police say the victims were shot by the occupants of a passing white car. The perpetrators are still at large.

A week earlier, on Sunday November 14, at 6.10am, officers responded to a shooting in Lavender Hill’s Depsiton Crescent where they found a 32-year-old man lying dead in a backyard. He had been shot several times.

The following day, Monday November 15, at 4.30am, police found a body in a burn-out car behind Prince George Primary School in 14 Avenue, Lavender Hill.

“A post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death and DNA testing will be done to identify the person,” said Sergeant Adams.

Anyone with information is asked to contact SAPS Steenberg at 021 702 9000, Crime Stop at 08600 10111 or the SMS Crime Line at 32211. Information will be treated as confidential.