PE gang shootings claim lives of seven kids in year

Seven children were killed in gang-related shootings between January 2019 and January 2020 in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth.

These and other shocking statistics around gangs in the northern areas were laid bare on Thursday in the Port Elizabeth High Court during sentencing proceedings for convicted murderer Walter Williams.

Williams was convicted on Monday on  10 counts including three of attempted murder, one of murder   and two of contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act in that he was found to be actively involved in illegal gang activities and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Throughout his trial, Williams, 22, denied involvement in any gangs but admitted in court to be a member of the notorious 26 gang while incarcerated in St Alban’s Correctional Facility.

On Thursday, police gang unit member, Sergeant Sibulelo Yali, said gang-related crimes were rife in Bethelsdorp and Gelvandale, with numerous innocent bystanders killed or injured in ongoing gang wars.

Yali said between 2017 and 2019, at least 236 gang-related murders  were investigated.

In the same period, 250 people lost their lives, while 575 cases of attempted murder were investigated.

“The most active gang areas are in Bethelsdorp and Gelvandale, with firearms being the weapon of choice among the gangsters,” Yali said.

In 2019 alone, of the 62 people killed, seven children were shot dead, while 20 others were injured — all related to gang activities, Yali said.

“In most cases where children are shot they are innocent bystanders, playing in the streets and then get caught in crossfire,” Yali said.

Under cross-examination by defence advocate Jodine Coertzen, Yali said the children who were shot  dead in the 2019 period were aged between 13 and 17.

The 20 children who were injured were aged between three and 17

Williams was found guilty of the attempted murder of three youngsters, who were aged between 13 and 17 at the time, when he opened fire on a state witness — in another matter — during the afternoon of December 9 2018, in Anita Street, Helenvale.

While Williams’s 17-year-old target managed to escape unscathed, two teenagers aged 13 and 16 were shot in the hand and in the stomach by stray bullets.

Both teens survived and have made a full physical recovery.

In the early hours of the following morning, Williams went to a house in Kobus Street and fatally shot Richard Marius Stuurman.

During mitigation of sentencing, Coertzen said Williams, an alleged member of the Nice Time Boozas (NTB) gang, was one of many other youths in the area who had fallen prey to joining gangs due to their socioeconomic backgrounds.

Coertzen asked the court to take into consideration that Williams was only 20 at the time he committed the crimes, and that he came from a difficult background.

“Gangsters prey on the youth because they know of the socio-economic situation,” Coertzen said.

In aggravation of sentencing, Stuurman’s mother, Margaret, 73, said it was still difficult for the family to deal with the fact that her son was dead, especially since he was the sole breadwinner for his three children, who now lived with her.

“It is very painful not having him [Stuurman] around,” she said.

Acting judge Sureshni Moodliar is expected to pass sentence on Monday.