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ActionSA condemns the horrific mass shooting in Lwandle, near Strand, in the early hours of Sunday morning, which left 10 people dead and 11 others wounded.

Ten people are dead, eleven are injured and families are waking up to unimaginable loss, while another 11 families are praying for their loved ones. Our deepest condolences go to those who have lost loved ones, and we wish those injured a full recovery. This cannot become normal.

Lwandle is also not an isolated incident. Just hours earlier, four people were killed in a separate shooting in Khayelitsha, while communities across Cape Town and the Cape Flats continue to live with shootings, gangsterism, drugs, extortion and murder. Residents should not have to wake up wondering whether their community will be the next crime scene.

ActionSA demands an urgent and thorough investigation into the Lwandle shooting, with a relentless manhunt to identify, arrest and prosecute those responsible. Criminals must know that the state will pursue them and that there will be consequences for taking innocent lives.

We need intelligence-led policing that targets the criminal networks, illegal firearms, drugs and extortion fuelling this violence. But policing cannot carry this burden alone — SAPS, Community Safety, Social Development, Education and other relevant departments must work together to tackle the conditions allowing gangsterism and violent crime to take root.

Government must act before more families are forced to bury their loved ones.

Issued by ActionSA Cape Town Mayoral Candidate Dereleen James