September 05, 2006 Edition 2
Babalo Ndenze
A Somali shopkeeper from Delft is in a critical condition in a city hospital after armed assailants opened fire on him, rupturing his intestines, in the latest xenophobic attack involving a shopkeeper from the Horn of Africa country.
Said Rouble Ileeye was the second victim over the weekend, after another Somali killing in Du Noon on Friday.
Ileeye was admitted to Tygerberg Hospital.
Bahar Sheekow, who witnessed the shooting, said he was inside at the back of the small Spaza shop when the gunmen entered.
“They just came inside, three of them. They started shooting when they entered. They tried to break the (security) gate. They fired four shots (at Ileeye). I was very scared but I’m very fortunate not to get shot.
They took all the money, cigarettes, chocolates and airtime,” said Sheekow.
Before Sunday’s shooting, Sheekow was also involved in another attack in one of the Eastern Cape’s xenophobia hotspots, Duncan Village in East London, last year.
“I was shot three times before this; once in my arm and twice in my leg. I almost died. I can still feel the pain now,” said Sheekow.
So far, 28 Somali shop owners have been killed in the Western Cape since the beginning of August.
The provincial government says it is investigating allegations that the killings have been ordered by rival South African businessmen.
Abdulah Hussen, who owns the Delft shop but was away in Ceres when the shooting happened, said he has been running the shop for only four months.
“It’s very serious. I had to close the shop. I’m not scared, but I am going to go back to Ceres, 150km away. That’s where I will be staying now.
But I have to decide whether I am going to open or close the shop. But who is going to want to run the shop when I do open?” asked Hussen.
A spokesman for the Somali traders, Mohamed Dhereye, said the only way out of the endless violence against his fellow countrymen would be to leave South Africa for good.
“Many of our brothers have gone back to Somalia. They would rather die next to their families. But most of us don’t have travel documents to go back to Somalia. When we cross the border into Mozambique or Zimbabwe we get arrested.
“We can’t afford flying, so when we do try to go back we get killed and tortured in other countries. There are about six countries between Somalia and South Africa,” said Dhereye.
Source: Cape Times, Sept 5, 2006
