Update
GEORGE NEWS - Sunday night's gunning down of Jan van der Ross (49) in Blanco has sparked calls for the George Municipality's recently extended liquor trading hours to be reversed.
While there is no clear causal link between the shooting and the sale of alcohol, other than the possible coincidental proximity of a tavern, which was established at the time of writing, the link between alcohol abuse and crime is well documented.
'Dry Sundays' in George became a thing of the past nearly seven months ago when the municipal council approved a new revised by-law extending liquor trading days and hours.
Under the amended regulations, taverns have been allowed to stay open later on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and non-religious public holidays since October last year, while liquor stores have since then been allowed to trade on Sundays.
"We need to hold the George Municipality accountable. This is not the first shooting in Blanco. The community needs to rise up against these bottle stores, taverns and smuggle houses and have them shut down. These things are annihilating our community," a Blanco resident who requested anonymity said after the shooting.
Speaking at a quarterly crime statistics media briefing five weeks ago, Garden Route District Police Commissioner Major General Phumzile Cetyana also underscored how the extension of liquor sale hours, especially on Sundays, has impacted on crime statistics.
The Blanco community was shocked when one of their own was gunned down in front of Benton's Tavern in Crystal Ave.
Connecting the dots
While Van der Ross was picked off outside Brenton's Tavern in Crystal Avenue, by the time of going to press, there was no evidence that the two had been linked.
George Herald has, however, reliably learnt the kill shot was fired through an open window from inside a minibus taxi in the presence of other passengers.
Making his getaway, the shooter then jumped out of the taxi and into his Audi Q5, in which eyewitnesses reportedly saw him fleeing the scene at full tilt.
A handful of community members spoke to George Herald on condition of anonymity out of fear for their own lives. They said the alleged gunman and his getaway car were known in the Blanco community, as he had been seeing a local woman there.
Some reported hearing a single gunshot at about 16:50 before word started spreading of Van der Ross lying in the road. George Police immediately launched a manhunt that saw a 61-year-old suspect being pulled over and furnished with state-issued bracelets on the N9 near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape about two hours later.
It is understood the suspect had fled at speeds far exceeding the legal speed limit, as some sources reported the Audi being traced to an area near Willowmore, roughly 170km from the crime scene, within an hour of the shooting. He had completed the roughly 350km to Graaff-Reinet, where his cross-province run ended, in about two hours.
A murder docket is being investigated. Southern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Christopher Spies said the motive for the killing has yet to be established and will form part of the ongoing police investigation.
Jan van der Ross (49) will be laid to rest next Saturday in Blanco. Photo: Supplied
The greenskeeper and the mysteriously exhumed grave
Residents could not fathom why Van der Ross, a regular salary earner employed by the George Golf Club to water the greens, would be targeted. The Van der Ross family was in the news five months ago when their elderly father Jannie's grave in the Blanco Cemetery in Maitland Street was found to have been dug up. Although the police investigated the crime, the reason for and the hands responsible for the mysterious exhumation nine years after Jannie had been laid to rest, remain unknown.
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