Police Minister Senzo Mchunu Laments Deadly Westbury Shooting
- Police Minister Senzo Mchunu reacted to the deadly shooting in which children were killed in Westbury in Johannesburg
- The incident happened on 21 October 2025, and claimed the lives of two teenagers when five people were shot
- Mchunu lamented the shooting, saying it should not have happened and expressing his grief
- Briefly News spoke to Dr Tinyiku Ngoveni, the University of South Africa's chairperson of the School of Criminal Justice, about Westbury's battle with gangsterism
Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News's Deputy Head of the Current Affairs desk, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
Source: Getty Images
WESTERN CAPE — Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said that the deadly Westbury shooting should have never happened. This was after seven people were shot and two died on 21 October 2025.
Mchunu responded to a question from members of Parliament about the shooting. Mchunu appeared before the Ad hoc Committee to continue his testimony. Mchunu said that if things had been handled differently, the Westbury incident should have been prevented.
What happened in Westbury?
A group of teenagers was standing outside a house when four armed suspects approached them. They opened fire and fled the scene in what is believed to be a gang-related incident. The victims were all rushed to the hospital. Two were killed, and the others received medical treatment.
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Police launch a search for the suspects
Gauteng's Deputy Provincial Commissioner, Major General Fred Kekana, confirmed that the police know the identities of the four suspects. A manhunt has been launched to locate them. He said that eyewitnesses provided affidavits and footage which clearly showed the suspects' faces. The police are operating around the clock in the neighbourhood to curb gang violence. They were conducting operations in the area when the shooting occurred.
Source: Getty Images
Articles about children killed in Cape Flats
The Cape Flats is another area in the country that is plagued by gang-related activities. Children are often caught in the crossfire.
A 12-year-old girl from Cape Town was killed in January 2024 when the Nice Time Kids gang and the 28s gang were involved in a shooting. The victim was standing outside when a stray bullet hit her in the head, killing her instantly.
Two teenagers were killed in the Cape Flats on 17 December 2024. The incident happened in Lavender Hill. The suspects drove past the teenagers and opened fire before escaping. They were rushed to the hospital, where they were declared dead.
An 11-year-old from Kraaifontein in the Cape Flats was killed when two rival gangs were involved in a shootout. The incident occurred on August 19, 2025. Three people were shot, and two survived the incident.
Briefly News speaks to a crime expert
Dr Tinyiku Ngoveni, the University of South Africa's chairperson of the School of Criminal Justice, spoke to Briefly News about the role the police play in the battle against gang activity.
"Taking into consideration the police ratio nationally, provincially, and from a police station perspective, there is nothing much that is happening strategically. Actually, police are scared to directly approach these criminals, and there are also other reasons, such as police being captured by the drug cartels, as witnessed in testimonies at the Madlanga Commission of inquiry and the Ad Hoc Committee," he said.
79 children killed in 2024
In a related article, Briefly News reported that 79 children were killed in the Cape Flats between 1 September and 20 November 2024. This was according to the Western Cape's Department of Health.
The department confirmed that the children died either from being shot or stabbed. Many of the deaths are gang-related.
Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.
Source: Briefly News
