Tragic double murder of brothers in Nyanga highlights ongoing crime issues

Two brothers were gunned down in Nyanga on Monday, December 8.

Police say they were called to the crime scene just after 7.47pm in Mtshbdea Street, Lusaka, where the bodies of two adult males were found in Phase 2.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said the victims, who were brothers, were targeted inside a wendy house.

He said: "Nyanga police are investigating two counts of murder following a shooting incident on Monday evening at about 7.47pm at a premises in Mtsha Street, Lusaka, Phase 2, Nyanga,.

"Two males aged 57 and 59 were shot and fatally wounded.

"According to reports, Nyanga SAPS members attended to a shooting incident at the mentioned address, and on their arrival, they found the two brothers deceased in a wendy house on the premises.

"The victims were declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel. The motive for the attack is yet to be determined. The suspects fled the scene and have yet to be arrested.

"Anyone with information about this fatal shooting incident can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the mobile application MySAPS anonymously."

The Nyanga precinct was, in recent years, notorious as the "murder capital of South Africa" due to its high rate of violent crime. It recorded 289 homicides in the 2018/19 period, and over the five years preceding 2018, the area logged a total of 1,473 homicides.

Last week, Premier Alan Winde said in the latest crime statistics, the majority of murders committed were gun-related.

"While I am outraged and disturbed by the murder rates in the province and across the country, we can see that cooperative and locally-managed policing programmes are reducing murder rates and urgently need to be funded by the national government for implementation in every single policing precinct," he said.

"The majority of the murders in the Western Cape are gun-related. The provincial government, along with the City of Cape Town, has long been calling for investigative powers on firearms. Our success with LEAP now adds urgency and credibility to this request - we can get illegal guns off our streets."