KAYAMANDI – A violent 24-hour period in the Stellenbosch township of Kayamandi has left seven people dead in a series of separate shootings, sparking a manhunt and deepening fear among residents.
Law enforcement spent the weekend moving between multiple crime scenes after eight people were killed in six separate incidents across the township, according to police reports. The victims included six men and one woman.
At one home, residents woke to find the body of an unknown man in their backyard. A local resident described the moment they learned of the discovery: “I just got a call when I was at work this morning. My mother called me because she also stays here. She’s a neighbor where the crime scene was. And then she told me that there’s somebody there lying there. So I rushed to come here and see what is happening. And then we saw that somebody is lying there. But we didn’t know what is happening until the police came and confirmed the situation.”
Elsewhere in the informal settlement, another man was shot dead on 7th Avenue. On Fire Street, a couple was killed in a shooting that also left another person injured.
Western Cape police confirmed that violent crime detectives are investigating five shooting incidents. Four of the shootings occurred on Friday evening and one on Saturday morning. No arrests have been made, and investigations continue.
“The motive for the crimes is the subject of the police investigation currently underway,” a police spokesperson said.
Residents say violence has become alarmingly common in the area. One community member told reporters: “Kayamandi – the name says it all. It was a really peaceful place, and we’re getting a lot of shootings nowadays. We are actually getting scared. There’s children – one doesn’t feel safe anymore around here because there’s a lot of shootings. You don’t know what can happen tomorrow.”
Another resident added: “We are worried. We can’t walk around freely because we don’t know who is doing the shootings. We’re even scared to speak openly here. It’s not nice here in Kayamandi.”
Police detectives are now trying to determine whether the incidents form part of a coordinated pattern of violence. The manhunt remains ongoing.
