No arrests have yet been made after a 13-year-old girl was hit and injured by a stray bullet in Hanover Park, Western Cape police said on Tuesday.
The girl had been walking from the shop in Athburg Walk around 14:00 on Monday when she was wounded in the arm and stomach, said Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana.
She was rushed to a medical facility for treatment.
Rwexana said the circumstances surrounding the shooting were being investigated.
Last month, a 15-year-old girl was injured after being hit by a stray bullet just a few roads away in Rywood Road.
She had apparently been standing on the street corner with two people – one an alleged gangster – when a rival group spotted him and opened fire, Eyewitness News reported.
Philippi community police forum chair Ebrahim Abrahams said the girl was recovering.
He said it had been a gang shooting and that the area was a hotspot for this activity, with two law enforcement officers shot dead in the same vicinity.
The Philippi policing precinct was identified as one of 10 crime hotspots and the South African National Defence Force was deployed in July to help curb the high murder rate.
According to police crime statistics for 2018/2019, the Philippi police station saw a 55.3% increase in attempted murder cases.
