Murder of Seven People in Cape Town Within 24 Hours

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the brutal murder of seven people in less than 24 hours in Cape Town, a city falsely marketed as the “best-run” municipality under Democratic Alliance (DA) leadership. On Monday, reports emerged that seven people were found dead in different areas across Cape Town, with the youngest victim being only 21 years old.

In Gugulethu, two young men between the ages of 21 and 23 were gunned down while walking with four friends who narrowly escaped with their lives. In Canal, Manenberg, two men aged between 40 and 52 were shot and killed. In Ravensmead, a man was shot dead and another injured while they were sitting on the pavement inside the yard of the deceased. This is a chilling reminder that the people of Cape Town are not safe even within the confines of their own homes.

Another lifeless body was discovered at the Mitchells Plain taxi rank, while in Delft, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed at Langa Hokies. What unites all these murders is the fact that every victim died from gunshot wounds, the cases remain under investigation, and not a single arrest has been made in a so-called city that “cares for all.”

Cape Town has effectively become a murder zone. Between 1 and 17 January 2026 alone, 195 homicides were recorded, an average of 11 people killed every single day without justice. This level of violence constitutes a state of emergency that demands urgent and decisive intervention. However, the DA-led City of Cape Town remains indifferent because this violence is concentrated in townships and the Cape Flats, far removed from their privileged constituencies.

The DA-led government has demonstrated, through both action and inaction, that African and Coloured lives do not matter. Our people are reduced to mere statistics, stripped of dignity and denied justice. This deliberate neglect sustains Cape Town as a city of two realities, a safe haven for the white minority, while Black and Coloured communities are condemned to poverty, violence, and death. It cannot be normalised that people die like flies while governance continues as if nothing is wrong.

The EFF further condemns the complete failure of the state, at local, provincial, and national levels to control the proliferation of illegal firearms. Guns continue to flood Cape Flats communities with no meaningful interdiction, no accountability, and no political will to dismantle gun-running syndicates. The DA-led provincial government has failed to implement effective gun-control strategies, while law enforcement agencies appear either incapable or unwilling to remove firearms from our streets. As long as guns are freely available, the bloodshed will continue.

We call on Parliament to urgently fast-track the multi-portfolio parliamentary intervention into the violent crime crisis in Cape Town and across the Western Cape, as tabled by the EFF on 13 November 2025. This inquiry is long overdue and must be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, similar to the Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. All lives matter and must be treated equally, without class bias.

Finally, we call upon civil society organisations and communities to unite in the fight against crime. Those with information about these murders and the perpetrators must come forward and report them. Community safety cannot be achieved without collective action, accountability, and justice.

The EFF has been criticized for its handling of internal dissent and factionalism.

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