Six people were shot dead in six separate incidents just hours apart in Nelson Mandela Bay’s Northern Areas on Monday.
One victim, Lyell Minnaar, 32, who lived with learning disabilities, was shot in the back of his head as he was doing his morning ritual of sweeping in front of his family home in Fitchard Street, Helenvale.
The victim’s family said they heard a gunshot and when they went out to investigate, the body of their “sweet Lyell” was in a pool of blood.
He was described by his loved ones as a sweet young man, who lived for his eight-year-old daughter.
Minnaar had been involved in a car accident two years earlier, which left him physically and mentally impaired.
“Since his accident, he would wake up every day and check on his daughter and then go take out the broom to sweep outside the house and in front of our yard. He did this every day without fail. He did nothing to anyone; he didn’t deserve to die like this,” said his aunt Mina Maarman.
He was one of at least six people who lost their lives to violent shootings in this area in just 24 hours.
Included was 20-year-old Nadowin Lessing, who was shot just hours before Minaar. Lessing’s bullet-riddled body was found just a few metres from his home.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed the shootings and said police were also investigating four other violent deaths in the area.
“A passerby alerted police to a body found lying in a footpath between Rensburg and Esterhuizen streets in Arcadia. The 26-year-old male was shot multiple times,” she said.
Naidu said another body was found lying on Barends Street with a gunshot wound to the head.
She added that police were also investigating a double murder as two bodies were also found in the bushes along Standford Road in the Northern Areas.
DA shadow minister of police, Andrew Whitfield, appealed to Minister of Police Bheki Cele to provide an urgent intervention into the ongoing violence in Gqeberha’s Northern Areas.
“The DA has previously requested the minister to assist but all efforts to date have come up short while violent crime spirals out of control,” said Whitfield.