Westbury resident Luthando Stuurman would have turned 20 on Wednesday, 19 August. Instead of attending a birthday celebration, members of the Johannesburg community filled the Living Trinity Church of God for his memorial service.

Stuurman was one of four people killed in a shooting incident over the weekend.

Three of the victims were declared dead at the scene on Saturday, 14 August. The fourth later succumbed to his injuries in hospital after being admitted in a critical condition. The victims were young men between 18 and 20, and at least one was a learner enrolled at RW Fick Secondary School.

In response to the violence, the community has written a memorandum calling for the City of Johannesburg and Gauteng Legislature âto urgently recognise the ongoing crisis of gang-related violence, public shootings and loss of life as a disaster requiring an extraordinary and coordinated responseâ. They are due to hand over the memorandum at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Friday, 21 August.

The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) confirmed that a âhigh-profile male suspectâ had been arrested in Lenasia in connection with the shooting, and other incidents of gang violence, on Tuesday. The JMPD followed a tip-off which led them to the suspect, who was armed with an illegal revolver.

âDuring preliminary questioning, the suspect led officers to a second location in the same street, where a Tommy gun (submachine gun) and live ammunition were pointed out and seized,â said the JMPD in a statement.

âThe suspect was immediately placed under arrest and detained at the Lenasia South SAPS station. He faces charges related to the possession of unlicensed firearms and prohibited weapons, with further investigation under way regarding his involvement in the deadly Westbury shootings.â

Aspiring soldier

The incident is the latest in a community so besieged by gang violence that soldiers were deployed to the area as part of a programme announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address on 12 February 2026 to tackle gun violence.

A previous report by Daily Maverick found that despite more than 2,200 soldiers being deployed across five provinces into communities impacted by crime, gang violence, and illegal mining, the intervention had failed to make a dent.

Nonetheless, the soldiers may have made a lasting impression on Stuurman. At the memorial, tearful family and friends described him as a kind and generous young man with a competitive spirit who was fiercely protective of those he loved.

According to his uncle and pastor of the Living Trinity Church of God, Jefferson Johnson, Stuurman wanted to join the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and had asked him to assist with application forms.

âOn Friday, he got the forms. Sunday he was gone,â said Johnson.

Residents too afraid to speak

Johnson told Daily Maverick that Stuurman was not a gang member, nor was he involved in the shooting. Instead, he was caught in the crossfire when he went to a friendâs flat where the gunmen broke in through the bedroom window, shooting everyone they found inside.

Videos then circulated across WhatsApp and eventually on to other social media platforms showing the victimsâ bodies. Although Daily Maverick has obtained these videos, we will not republish them out of respect for the victimsâ families.

Johnson, who is also a community activist, said that gang-related violence had been a persistent problem in the area for more than 10 years. In 2016, he lost his brother to gang violence. The violence originally centred on the drug trade, but has since devolved into turf wars where one can become a victim simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

âYou know, for years on end, since 2015, weâve had the very same issue. Weâve been pursuing authorities to try and assist in that regard. However, they do it their way, theyâre not listening to us as the community.

âWhat they want the people to do is to stand as witnesses, which is important. But I think thereâs better ways of dealing with this because if somebody stands as a witness, that personâs dead,â said Johnson.

The issue stems from inadequate witness protection. Johnson said investigating officers had previously given the witnessesâ names to whoever asked, leading to the witnesses being targeted. This had created a chilling effect across the community, leaving people too afraid to speak out.

Gang violence persists across Gauteng

The problem has only become worse across Gauteng. Earlier this month, on 7 August, two Gauteng SAPS Anti-Gang Unit members, Constable Thapelo Tlomatsane (29) and Constable Sphiwe Sibeko (28), were in Reiger Park. They were killed alongside two civilian women, Rolene Lessing and Jaydin Magerman, in an apparent ambush.

Two months previously, the province recorded one of its deadliest mass shootings in Cleveland, Johannesburg, when on 9 June, a heavily armed gang stormed Jumpers Park Informal Settlement. They fired indiscriminately and killed 13 people.

Johnson argued that different approaches taken in consultation with the communities could be more effective.

âFor one, I think we have all these major gangs, the gang leaders. You attack the top, and then you go right down to the little one. At the very same time, our whole community is affected by this. So you implement programmes in schools. You implement programmes at home,â he said.

His call for a change in tactics is echoed by the Westbury community. The memorandum includes a list of proposed responses, including prominent police visibility in identified hotspots, stronger protections for witnesses and greater attention to derelict buildings. They further propose a list of community programmes including youth programmes, substance abuse rehabilitation and social development.

âThe plea comes amid concerns that residents are increasingly unable to move freely and safely through their own neighbourhoods, with shootings occurring in public spaces and exposing children, workers, commuters, families and other innocent residents to danger,â the memorandum says.

Benedicta van Vuuren, DA Western Cape spokesperson on police oversight and community safety, has told Daily Maverick that out of 2,641 killings recorded across the province in 2026 to date, 1,658 were related to gang activity and crime.

âIf communities continue to experience such devastating levels of violence, the government must ask whether the current approach is delivering the results residents deserve,â Van Vuuren said.

Daily Maverick contacted SAPS for details on witness protection protocols and whether investigating officers give the names of witnesses to unauthorised persons. SAPS referred us to the National Prosecuting Authority, which referred us back to SAPS. DM

Additional reporting by Bheki C Simelane.