Community in Fear: Cape Flats Sees 38 Shootings and Stabbings Amid Ongoing Gang Conflict

CAPE TOWN, WESTERN— A bloody weekend across the Cape Flats left at least 38 people shot or stabbed between 22 May and 25 May 2026. The incidents occurred across crime-hit areas including Mitchells Plain, Hanover Park, Manenberg, Bishop Lavis, Delft, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Lavender Hill, Elsies River and Athlone, with many attacks believed to be gang-related.

Yusuf Abramjee posted the news on his @Abramjee X account. The violence began on Friday and escalated through Saturday and Sunday. Multiple shootings were reported within hours of each other, starting in Hanover Park where one person was shot in Sherwood Walk and two others were wounded in Ontario Court. In Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, four people were shot in Towerkop Street, leaving two dead and two wounded. About 13 people died in five incidents and police launched multiple manhunts.

Cape Flats violence escalates

Fatalities were also recorded in Bishop Lavis, Khayelitsha, Elsies River and Manenberg. In Khayelitsha, six men were killed in two separate mass shootings in Makhaza and Endlovini, Harare. In Leonsdale, Elsies River, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed, while two other young men were wounded. Police also discovered the bodies of two women in Mitchells Plain Town Centre and Ravensmead.

Read also

Western Cape shootings leave 13 people dead in five incidents, police launch multiple manhunts

The latest attack took place on Monday morning in Woodlands, Mitchells Plain, where a man was shot and killed in his vehicle at the corner of Weltevreden Drive and Highlands Road. Local residents stated that the surge in violence highlights ongoing gang warfare and violent crime plaguing the area, with communities living in fear as shootings continue daily.

View the X tweet here:

3 arrested in Cape Town over shootings

Similarly, Briefly News reported that three were arrestred in Cape Town in December 2025. This was after gangs terrorised the Cape Flats in shootings which resulted in murders.

Source: Briefly News