A Rondebosch Village sushi restaurant was the scene of a shooting that claimed the life of a convicted abalone smuggler – one of two murder cases in the area on the same day.
The 48-year-old man, named in the Daily Voice as Denver Langenhoven, was seated in the outside section of the Rock Thai Sushi Restaurant, on Thursday afternoon when he was fatally shot through a canvas and plastic screen.
A 37-year-old woman who was also at the restaurant was injured by a stray bullet, according to Mowbray police station commander Lieutenant Colonel David Malong.
Provincial police spokeswoman Captain Nowonga Sukwana said the woman was rushed to hospital. The Tatler was unable to get an update on her condition.
Asked whether the shooting was a gangland hit, Captain Sukwana would only say that police were investigating a murder and an attempted murder and there were no new developments to report at this stage.
The police have asked anyone with information to come forward.
Mowbray Community Police Forum chairman Jonathan Hobday said the incident had shocked the neighbourhood, “happening as it did in a popular and busy convenience shopping centre mid-afternoon”.
The Tatler called the Rock Thai Sushi Restaurant several times, requesting comment, but each time we were told the manager was unavailable and the manager did not return out calls by deadline.
Langenhoven, along with Solomon Sauls, was sentenced in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court in November 2020 on a string of charges.
According to the Hawks at the time, he was sentenced to 14 years in jail on various charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 10 years on 385 counts of contravention of the Marine Living Resources Act and three years for fraud.
It remains unclear when or why Langenhoven was released before his sentence was completed.
Meanwhile, police are investigating another murder after the body of a 76-year-old woman was found in her Sangrove Drive home, in Rondebosch, at 9.30pm on the same day.
The cause of her death is unknown, according to Captain Sukwana.
Rondebosch CPF chairman Bernard Soules said: “For us as a community, this is a concern as one murder is one too many.”
Ward councillor Katherine Christie said she was deeply concerned to hear about two murders and one attempted murder in Rondebosch on the same day. “We are a peace-loving, united community, and this kind of crime is an anathema to us.”
