The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has warned that South Africans should never come to accept mass shootings as part of the country’s DNA.
The party spoke out after a bloody weekend. Eighteen people were killed in Wedela township near Carletonville on the West Rand, and in a separate attack gunmen killed 10 people in Lwandle, Cape Town.
ATM MP Vuyolwethu Zungula said the killings point to a failure of crime intelligence and of the state’s duty to protect its people. He said it was unacceptable that more than 160 people had died in mass shootings this year alone.
Zungula also said no arrests had been made in the mass shootings earlier in the year. He blamed illegal mining for some of the attacks, saying that in Wedela it was well known that illegal miners were behind them. He said the government knows where illegal miners operate in particular communities, and he faulted it for not acting.
The ATM’s criticism follows similar concern from other parties. ANC MP Samuel Moela called for stricter control of firearms and for communities to work with police, saying police alone cannot solve the problem. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said South Africa cannot be a country where people pick up guns and shoot at random.
