Gang turf war behind Kimberley court shooting

A 28-year-old Kimberley woman believed to be the girlfriend of a gang member in the Northern Cape capital has handed herself into police custody in connection with a shooting incident that occurred outside the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 23 November 2020.

Police spokesperson, Dimakatso Mooi, tells The South African, the unnamed woman has admitted to shooting a man believed to be in his 30s in the arm, shoulder, back and chest leaving him in a critical condition.

Mooi says the woman will appear before the same courthouse for attempted murder within 48 working hours.

Victim shot five times

Emergency Medical Service, ER24, says their paramedics in the area arrived at the scene at 16:30, finding the victim with five gunshot wounds sustained in the aforementioned areas of his bodies.

The paramedics administered life support interventions before transporting the injured man to a local hospital for further medical attention. The South African is yet to confirm what his current status is at present.

Kimberley based publication, the DFA, has identified the injured man as Rodger Johnson, a member of a local gang.

Johnson appeared before the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 23 November in connection with the attempted shooting of a rival gang member last month.

He had just been granted R 2 000 bail when the alleged girlfriend of Johnson’s victim shot him five times, before fleeing the scene. Northern Cape police have not confirmed the assertion that this was a gang-related incident.

This is a developing story.

CELE WELCOMES ARREST OF FIGURES IN CT UNDERWORLD

Elsewhere in the country, Police Minister Bheki Cele has also welcomed the arrest of three possibly high ranking figures of the criminal underworld allegedly linked to an ongoing “extortion racket” of businesses in Cape Town.

Mark Lifman, Jerome Booysen, and William Stevens appeared in the Cape Town Magistrates court following their arrest by the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation.

The trio was arrested in one of the phases of an ongoing investigation into extortion, dealing in drugs, fraud, corruption, and money laundering activities of the Cape Town underworld. The minister believes these arrests are a huge victory in the fight against organised crime.

READ: ‘Forget selfies, use lethal force’: Bheki Cele’s bizarre advice for cops