This cute South African toddler has been sent home from hospital less than a fortnight after getting caught in the crossfire of warring gangs and being shot five times.

Little Kayden Jeffries, from the suburb of Bishop Lavis in the South African city of Cape Town, was shot in the neck, chest and shoulder while playing in front of his home on Paulsberg Road on 26th February.

According to local reports, three men opened fire on two other men standing in front of the home and shot the toddler as well five times.

Kayden was in the company of his mother Kaylin and an aunt when the shooting took place.

Mum Kaylin said: “This wasn’t supposed to happen. For us, it has been a norm that on weekends we sit outside the house, and when the shooting happened we were sitting outside as usual and it caught us off guard.

“However, Kayden is doing well, he is playing, laughing and doing most of the things he did before the shooting.”

She added that it was a miracle her young son survived the ordeal.

Three men, aged between 37 and 22, have been charged with the attempted murder of the boy.

His father Morgan Sarels praised the police for their swift actions in capturing the suspects.

Graham Lindhorst, chairman for the Community Policing Forum, said: “For people to come to a street where others are sitting and pump bullets into a toddler tells you of the reality we live in. The government needs to closely look at what are our lived realities are and come up with solutions.

“We are told that after the incident the perpetrators ran with guns openly on the streets and that is because they know that there is no police visibility which could have ensured that the shooting incident did not occur.

“We hope that SAPS has gathered enough information to ensure that they have a water-tight case, as numerous times perpetrators get away with these sorts of crimes because somehow investigations get bungled by the police.”