While Ocean View residents were expecting drastic changes to take place after making their needs known to MEC for Community Safety, Dan Plato, three weeks ago, another child has been shot.
On Friday evening, October 6, Thorn Lamb, 15, was visiting his neighbours across the road from his Neptune Way home when he was shot in the foot.
His mother, Yvette Octavia Lamb, said it was a quiet evening in Ocean View and her son walked over to his friends across the road.
“The boys were standing outside the house while one was on his bicycle,” she said.
At about 9pm, she said her son spotted two unknown men standing on the sidewalk and noticed the one had a gun. He ran inside the neighbour’s house telling them the men outside had a gun and the next moment, shots were fired.
“My heart almost stopped,” said Ms Lamb as she ran outside looking for her son. As she got to the road her son approached her and he seemed to be unharmed. It was only when they went inside the house that her son told her: “Mommy, I’m bleeding.”
There was some blood on his shoe and when I took his shoe off you could see the bullet wound in his foot.
Ms Lamb said she rushed her son to the False Bay Hospital where he was later referred to Victoria Hospital. She said the bullet entered the top of his foot, went straight through and shattered two bones.
He has a follow-up appointment at Victoria Hospital later this month and if the bones in his foot do not mend, they will have to operate.
Police spokesman, Sergeant Leon Fortuin, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting is being investigated and no arrests have been made.
Community appointed spokesman, Patrick Joseph, said since the unrest, community leaders did have a meeting with Mr Plato and the main discussion was about youth empowerment.
He said sadly the meeting was interrupted by community members who wanted feedback about the promises made to the community on Friday September 22 (“Rise to end violence,” Echo, September 28).
Mr Patrick said one of the promises made was to provide the Ocean View police station with a new station commander by Friday October 6 which Mr Plato could not confirm had taken place.
Spokesman for Mr Plato, Ewald Botha, said Mr Plato will be engaging various communities who have recently expressed unhappiness about the scourge of crime, violence, gangs and drugs in their communities, including the broader communities of Hangberg, Marikana and Ocean View, this week.
Mr Botha said Mr Plato will be visiting the community of Ocean VIew tomorrow, Friday October 13 for a youth safety outreach from 1pm until 3pm at the Ocean View civic centre in Carina Close. The aim of the outreach is to further help prevent youth being lured into negative social behaviours such as gangsterism, drugs and specifically the abuse of alcohol, while presenting the various opportunities for development, further education and partnerships available through the Department of Community Safety.
Mr Botha did not respond to the Echo’s enquiries for a progress report on promises made to the Ocean View community three weeks ago. Sergeant Fortuin requested that anyone with information about the shooting incident on Friday night contact the Ocean View SAPS on 021 783 8300.