At least 15 Somali nationals killed in CT over last two months

Thursday March 2, 2017
By Monique Mortlock

The Somali Association of SA says urgent intervention is needed to stop the killing of Somali shopkeepers in Khayelitsha.

FILE: Locals help Somali foreign nationals empty their spaza shop after a night of protests and looting. Picture: Thomas Holder/EWN.

CAPE TOWN - The Somali Association of South Africa says urgent intervention is needed to stop the killing of Somali shopkeepers in Khayelitsha.

At least 15 Somali nationals have been killed in separate incidents in the township and in the Philippi areas over the past two months.

In the latest incident, a shop owner was gunned down in Site C on Monday.

The association's Abdi Kader Mohammed says the instances of violence towards foreigners are commonplace in some parts of Cape Town.

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“It’s a matter of the police making sure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. I think this needs to stop. We condemn the violence and we’re unhappy about it.”

ATTACKS ON FOREIGN NATIONALS IN GAUTENG

While police officers say they will maintain a strong presence in Jeppestown, foreign nationals in the area say they are now living in fear and are forced to hide at the local police station.

On Monday night, police used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse a group of residents of the George Goch Men's Hostel who attacked foreign-owned shops and tried to barricade the M2 Highway.

Foreign nationals gathered at the Jeppestown police station after they were attacked and their shops looted.

They say they now live in fear and the police's thin presence in the area is not helping.

While some foreign shop owners have continued trading, many have welded their gates shut and have closed their businesses until their safety can be guaranteed.

(Edited by Shimoney Regter)

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