Cape Town - Hundreds of mourners gathered in Manenberg over the weekend to bid farewell to slain mother, Tasleema Erasmus, 42, who was struck by a bullet amid a gang fight.
Her body was found in Sabie Road on Thursday. According to a relative, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, they believe she was intentionally shot as she had been vocal about the violent clashes between child gangs, where minors as young as nine years old engage in stone throwing fights.
“Tasleema is a mom of five children and she worked as an information officer for a men’s circumcision clinic.
“On Thursday, chaos broke out between the Okka Boys and the Sabie Kidz and Tasleema ran out to fetch her son who was on the corner.
“As the fight got worse and the children pulled out knives for each other, we heard shots and saw that Tasleema had been shot. The bullet went through her neck and she was declared [deceased] on the scene.”
Manenberg police station commander, Jayce Naidoo, confirmed the shooting and said: “As the victim fetched her son from the street, a single gunshot rang out and she was the victim of that fatal gunshot. She sustained a serious and fatal gunshot wound to the face, she collapsed and died on the road way, just outside her home. An 18-year-old male, also part of the stone-throwing, was hit in the left leg and transported to hospital for medical treatment. It is unknown why she was the target of this fatal shooting. A case of murder and attempted murder has been opened for investigation, a single cartridge has been collected as evidence. No arrests have been made.”
On Saturday, her friends and family gathered at her janazah (funeral), as religious leaders pleaded to youngsters to cease the violence.
“There were over 400 people and the community is devastated. Tasleema was vocal about the fights, warning that someone could get seriously hurt.
“She also didn’t like the gangsters recruiting and training children to fight and was worried about the futures of her sons.
“After the janazah we took her to Klip Road Cemetery where we begged the children to stop the violence,” said her relative.
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Cape Argus