Two arrested in connection to attack on three DA MPs

Two teenage suspects have been arrested following an attack on Democratic Alliance (DA) Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday afternoon in Philippi.

The DA announced on Tuesday that MPs Ian Cameron, David Gotsell, and Lisa Schickerling were attacked in an attempted robbery following an oversight visit to the police training college in Philippi.

“Gotsell was hospitalised, but is not in a critical condition, and Cameron sustained minor injuries. Cameron was able to act quickly and in self-defence to prevent further injury to any of them,” DA MP George Michalakis announced.

Cameron told Newzroom Afrika they were returning from the oversight visit and going to the airport to drop off Schickerling. However, he was not unfamiliar with the area as he had been working there for five years.

He said the vehicle the three MPs were travelling in was attacked after a brick was thrown through the windscreen and hit him, who was driving, in the face.

Cameron added that he tried to prevent the attacker from entering the vehicle and then noticed that Gotsell had sustained an injury that was causing him to lose a significant amount of blood from his head.

“I did my best to act in self-defence with my firearm, and then we sped off to the closest secure location, where we began calling emergency services to try and get help,” Cameron said.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) announced on Wednesday morning that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack.

“The first suspect, an 18-year-old male, was apprehended on Tuesday evening as he sought medical assistance at a facility in Lentegeur,” Brigadier Novela Potelwa said.

“It is believed he was shot during the attack on the three victims when one of the vehicle occupants allegedly fired a shot in response to the attack. He is currently under police guard in the hospital.”

Brigadier Potelwa added that the second suspect apprehended was a 16-year-old male arrested in Browns Farm in the early hours of Tuesday morning after the police worked through the night.

Wave of crime in Cape Town

This follows mounting violence in Cape Town, with several mass shootings taking place in the past two months. 

SAPS says that initial reports of the crime indicate that the attack was perpetrated by three male suspects, who all face attempted murder and hijacking charges.

According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), robbery with aggravating circumstances is among the top five crimes reported in the Phlippi and Philippi East police precincts.

It was the most common crime in Philippi East in 2024, with 924 cases reported throughout the year, at an average of 2.5 per day.

However, the attack on the MPs is but the latest of an onslaught of violence experienced throughout the City of Cape Town.

According to the Western Cape police, there have been 30 murders across the city in the past two months due to mass shootings.

The most recent of these attacks was in Phlippi East on Sunday afternoon, where four people were shot dead in what is believed to be an extortion-related attack.

Last week, seven people were killed in Muizenberg following mass shootings in the Overcome Heights and the Xabantu informal settlements.

Another three people were killed in a gang-related shooting in Mitchells Plain in early July, and seven more were shot dead in a house in Gugulethu on 28 June.

Police say that many of these murders are caused by conflict within gangs and the prevalence of illegal weapons.

Western Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant Thembisile Patekile told the media on Tuesday that SAPS confiscates 40 to 60 firearms per week, with 910 having been made in the current financial year for the possession of illegal firearms.