[imagesource: Monique Duval]

Warning: The following story contains graphic and horrifying descriptions of murder victims, and gender-based violence.

Residents and police alike in Mitchells Plain and Strandfontein are calling on government to make some sort of plan after three bodies were found in the bushes along Baden Powell Drive, between the Wolfgat Nature Reserve and Strandfontein Pavilion.

The first body was found by Neels Tshabalala on August 24, 2020, when he went in search of his girlfriend, Patricia Williams, who had been missing for nearly a month.

When he found a woman he believes to be Williams in the bushes, she was dead and in a state of advanced decomposition.

Per IOL, Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson Sandy Schuter describes the crime scene as the police found it opposite Strandfontein Pavilion.

“It was a horrific scene as the body could be seen without the head,” says Sandy.

“The head was later found in the bushes and her clothes were on the side. She had stab wounds to the abdomen, but the body was badly decomposed.”

Tshabalala says that when Williams went missing, he opened a case at the local police station, but they didn’t find her.

“I saw the body and I knew it is her. Her clothes, a purple top and black tights were next to her. Her head was off and I think she was raped.”

“I told the police and they said they will do tests to confirm.”

A post-mortem will be conducted to confirm the cause of death, the extent of her injuries, and any other violence inflicted upon her, says Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk.

Now, a further two bodies have been discovered in the bushes on the same stretch of road, just two days later (August 26, 2020), this time of a man and a woman.

Per Cape Town ETC, SAPS Brigadier Novela Potelwa explained the following in a statement:

 “Upon arrival at about 13:50 detectives made the discovery of the bodies that were bound and in an advanced stage of decomposition. Crime scene experts including forensic experts attended the scene,” she said.

Police are still trying to piece together the facts. The cause of death is to date unknown, and will only be confirmed after a post-mortem.

Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson Abie Isaacs told The Daily Voice that the strip of coastline has become known as “the killing fields of the Cape Flats”.

“We have asked for years for all three spheres of government to sit down and come up with a strategic plan to tackle this.”

“The area is very dark and if an actual count was done on exactly how many bodies have been found there, I think people would be shocked.”

SAPS is asking anyone with information about the murders to contact Detective Sergeant Randall Davids on 082 777 8076.

The bodies were found just days before people gathered outside parliament to protest femicide, gender-based violence and farm murders, only to be met with violence by police.

[sources:iol&capetownetc&dailyvoice]