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LIFE support machines for Bergvliet resident Jane van Zyl (52) were switched off yesterday after she was mercilessly shot in the head during a driveway robbery at her Fair Way residence.

Police are now offering a "substantial" reward for information that might lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspects responsible for the fatal shooting. The murder took place at about 22:30 on Sunday night, when Van Zyl returned from Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic hospital, where she had dropped off her husband.

Inspector Rodney Franks, spokesperson for the Kirstenhof Police Station, says the initial investigation into the murder indicates that she was possibly followed by her attackers as she turned into Glen Alpine Road from Ladies Mile.

He says her attackers appear to have been "cruising" the main arterial roads such as Ladies Mile and Main Road, looking for potential victims.

Indications are that Van Zyl stopped to turn into her driveway when she was accosted by her assailants, who robbed her only of her handbag before firing one shot to her head.

Van Zyl was taken to Groote Schuur Hospital in a critical condition after the shooting.

This is the latest in a series of violent crimes that have been reported in the Constantia Valley, but the first with fatal consequences.

Police have confirmed that the modus operandi of the murder is similar to that of a criminal cell at work in the area - one of two earlier identified.

People's Post reported last week ("Battle of the suburbs", 8 April) that an "extremely dangerous" cell, linked to a spate of armed robbe?ries, is operating in the Bergvliet, Kreupelbosch, Constantia-Hills and Nova Constantia area.

Franks said that there were originally two cells at work in the area, one originating from Grassy Park, and one from the Khayelitsha and Gugulethu areas, and that most members of the Grassy Park cell are currently in detention.

The station was then placed under mobilisation orders by the station commissioner, with a special task team consisting of top Kirstenhof detectives and members of the crime intelligence division assigned to track the suspects. All sector-related operations were halted with immediate effect and the station's Tactical Operations Unit ? as well as sector patrol vehicles ? were deployed and placed on a level of readiness to engage in any threat of armed robberies.

Franks said that on Sunday, detectives and crime intelligence personnel from the newly formed anti-robbery task team, as well as forensic experts, gathered evidence at the crime scene.

"Kirstenhof Police are deploying every available resource in their attempt to stop the cowardly actions of these barbaric criminals, who need to be eradicated from our society for good."

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