The sirens began wailing just before 11 p.m. By the time police arrived at the corner of Nqabara Street and Mhlontlo Road in Walmer, the silence was already deafening. Neighbors who had been jolted awake by the rapid crack of gunfire now stood in their doorways, wrapped in blankets, staring at a scene they could not process. Four young bodies lay on the blood-soaked pavement. Two of them were teenage girls.
In a brutal attack that has sent shockwaves through the Nelson Mandela Bay community, four young people — including two teenage girls aged 17 and 19 — were shot and killed in Walmer, Gqeberha, late on Wednesday night. The victims, whose names have not yet been officially released pending family notification, were gunned down in what police are describing as a “targeted but indiscriminate” attack.
“It is a massacre,” said Brigadier Ronald Koll, the provincial police spokesperson, his voice heavy with emotion at a press conference held outside the Walmer police station on Thursday morning. “Four young lives, extinguished in seconds. This is not just a crime. This is an atrocity. We will not rest until we find those responsible.”
The victims: Dreams cut short
The four victims have been identified by family members and community leaders as:
- Amanda Plaatjies, 17 – A Grade 11 learner at Walmer High School, described by her teachers as a “bright and bubbly” student who dreamed of becoming a nurse. She was the eldest of three children.
- Lerato Mkhize, 19 – A first-year social work student at Nelson Mandela University, who had just moved back home to Walmer for the Easter break. She was known for her infectious laughter and her volunteer work at a local children’s home.
- Thando Ngcobo, 21 – A recent matriculant who worked as a delivery driver to support his younger siblings. He was saving up to study electrical engineering at a technical college.
- Sipho Dlamini, 22 – An aspiring musician who performed under the name “Sipho SA.” He had just released his first single on streaming platforms two weeks before his death.
The two younger victims, Amanda and Lerato, were close friends who had grown up together in Walmer’s Extension 6. According to witnesses, the four victims were standing outside a local spaza shop — a common gathering spot for young people in the area — when a silver sedan approached slowly with its lights off.
“They didn’t see it coming,” said a neighbor who witnessed the attack but asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. “The car stopped. Two men got out. They didn’t say a word. They just started shooting. It was over in seconds. Then they got back in the car and drove away. It was like they were executing a job. Cold. Professional. Evil.”
The attack: What we know
According to police, the shooting occurred at approximately 10:47 p.m. on Wednesday. The attackers, described as two males wearing dark clothing and balaclavas, exited a silver Hyundai sedan and opened fire on the group with what ballistics experts believe was a 9mm pistol and an assault rifle.
The victims were struck multiple times. All four were declared dead at the scene by paramedics, who arrived within 12 minutes of the first emergency call.
“At this stage, we have no clear motive,” said Brigadier Koll. “We are exploring several possibilities, including gang-related violence, a targeted hit that may have been misdirected, or a robbery gone wrong. The victims’ belongings — including cellphones and wallets — were not taken, which suggests robbery was not the primary intent.”
Police have cordoned off a large section of Nqabara Street as forensic teams comb the area for shell casings, fingerprints, and other evidence. The silver sedan used in the attack has not yet been located, though police have issued a province-wide alert for a vehicle matching the description.
A community in mourning
By dawn on Thursday, the corner where the four young people died had become a makeshift memorial. Candles flickered in the morning breeze. Teddy bears and handwritten notes were tied to a lamppost. A group of elderly women sat on plastic chairs, weeping softly, while young men stood in silent clusters, their faces etched with a mixture of grief and rage.
“My baby was 17,” said Nomsa Plaatjies, Amanda’s mother, speaking through tears outside her home on Mhlontlo Road. “She was supposed to graduate next year. She was supposed to become a nurse. She was supposed to take care of me when I am old. Now I have to bury her. I don’t know who did this. I don’t know why. But God will judge them. God will not forgive.”
Lindiwe Mkhize, Lerato’s mother, collapsed when she heard the news and had to be taken to a local clinic for treatment. Her sister spoke on her behalf.
“Lerato was the light of our family,” said the aunt, Thandiwe Mkhize. “She was the first person in our family to go to university. She wanted to help people. She wanted to work with orphans. And now she is gone. For what? For what reason? There is no reason. There is only evil.”
The deaths of Amanda and Lerato — two teenage girls with their whole lives ahead of them — have hit the community particularly hard.
“When young men are killed, it is tragic,” said community leader Mzwandile Ndlovu. “But when young girls are killed, it is something else. It is an attack on the future. It is an attack on motherhood. It is an attack on hope itself. We are broken.”
Gang violence or something else?
Walmer is no stranger to violence. The township, which is one of the oldest in Gqeberha, has long struggled with gang activity, drug trafficking, and turf wars that claim lives every year. But residents say that recent months have seen an escalation in brutality.
“The gangs used to fight each other,” said Vuyo Nkosi, 45, a father of three who has lived in Walmer his entire life. “Now they fight anyone. Innocent people. Children. Women. No one is safe anymore. We live in fear. We sleep with one eye open. And now four more families will never sleep peacefully again.”
Police have not ruled out gang involvement, but they are also investigating whether the attack was a case of mistaken identity — a hit meant for someone else that tragically claimed the lives of four innocent young people.
“We are following several leads,” said Brigadier Koll. “We appeal to anyone who saw the silver sedan or who has any information, no matter how small, to come forward. There is a reward of R250,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.”
Political reaction: Outrage and calls for action
The mass shooting has drawn swift condemnation from political leaders across the spectrum.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane issued a statement expressing “deep shock and sadness” and calling for “urgent action to address the scourge of gun violence in our communities.”
“No parent should have to bury a child,” Mabuyane said. “No community should have to live in fear. We will work with the police, with community leaders, and with civil society to ensure that justice is done and that measures are put in place to prevent such tragedies in the future.”
Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Babalo Madikizela visited the scene on Thursday morning, laying a wreath at the makeshift memorial and speaking with grieving families.
“This is a dark day for our city,” Madikizela said. “Four young people — two of them children, really — gunned down in cold blood. We will not let their deaths be in vain. We will redouble our efforts to rid our communities of illegal firearms and the criminals who use them.”
The Democratic Alliance (DA), which governs the metro in a coalition, called for the deployment of additional police resources to Walmer, including specialized anti-gang units.
“Words are not enough,” said DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga. “We need boots on the ground. We need intelligence-led policing. We need to take back our streets from the criminals who have turned them into battlefields.”
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) went further, calling for the declaration of a “state of emergency” in gang-affected areas of Gqeberha.
“This is not normal,” said EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys. “This is war. And we need to treat it as such. The police are overwhelmed. The community is terrified. The government must step in with extraordinary measures before more young people die.”
A grieving city
The Walmer shooting is the deadliest single incident in Gqeberha since 2022, when six people were killed in a mass shooting in the nearby township of KwaZakhele. That case remains unsolved.
Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, has seen a worrying rise in violent crime over the past two years. According to the latest police statistics, the city recorded 312 murders in 2025 — a 15% increase from the previous year. Most of those murders occur in impoverished townships like Walmer, where police resources are thin and gang activity is rife.
“The statistics are abstract until they become your child,” said Reverend Kenneth Makwetu, a local church leader who has presided over the funerals of dozens of young gun violence victims. “Then they become unbearable. We cannot keep burying our children. We cannot keep lighting candles and crying and saying ‘never again’ while the killings continue. Something must change. Something fundamental.”
The survivors: Trauma that lasts a lifetime
While the four victims have died, their friends and neighbors — the young people who were standing nearby, who heard the gunshots, who saw the bodies — will carry the trauma for the rest of their lives.
“I was ten meters away,” said Bongani Ngcobo, 19, Thando’s younger brother. “I saw my brother fall. I saw the blood. I ran. I hid behind a car. I thought they would come for me next. I don’t know how I am still alive. I don’t know how I will ever sleep again. Every time I close my eyes, I see it.”
Counselors have been dispatched to Walmer High School, where Amanda Plaatjies was a student, and to Nelson Mandela University, where Lerato Mkhize was enrolled. But residents say that the community needs more than crisis counseling — it needs a long-term strategy to address the root causes of violence.
“Our young people are desperate,” said Nokuthula Dlamini, a social worker who has worked in Walmer for a decade. “They are unemployed. They are bored. They are angry. And there are guns everywhere. That is a recipe for disaster. We need jobs. We need recreation. We need hope. Without hope, the gangs will always win.”
The investigation: A race against time
Police have not made any arrests. The silver sedan used in the attack has not been found. The two shooters remain at large. And with each passing hour, witnesses grow more afraid to speak.
“We are appealing to the community to work with us,” said Brigadier Koll. “We understand the fear. We understand the distrust. But we cannot solve this without you. Someone knows something. Someone saw something. Please, for the sake of these four young people and their families, come forward.”
Crime scene experts have collected over 40 spent shell casings from the scene — evidence that the attackers intended to kill, not just to wound.
“They fired until they ran out of ammunition or until they were sure everyone was down,” said a forensic expert who spoke on condition of anonymity. “That is not the behavior of amateurs. That is the behavior of people who have done this before. People who will do it again if they are not caught.”
A funeral to come
As the sun set over Walmer on Thursday evening, the candles at the makeshift memorial flickered to life. A group of young people gathered to sing hymns — old songs of comfort and hope that felt, at this moment, almost unbearably fragile.
“We will bury our children,” said Reverend Makwetu, standing among them. “And then we will fight. We will fight for justice. We will fight for peace. We will fight for a Walmer where no mother has to bury her child again. That is the only way to honor them. That is the only way to ensure that their deaths mean something.”
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