Foreign trader killed in store robbery
A Somali shopkeeper was gunned down in a store robbery at the Endlovini informal settlement in Harare, Khayelitsha.
|||Cape Town - A Somali shopkeeper was gunned down in a store robbery at the Endlovini informal settlement in Harare, Khayelitsha. Mahlubini Supermarket closed its doors on Monday after the robbery at about 6am.
Achmed Bargadle Mursal, 32, was opening the store when three men entered the shop posing as customers.
Mursal was the only one attending to customers at the time, while two other shopkeepers slept at the back of the shop.
Abdullah Muhammad Allie, Mursal’s brother, said one of the men went to the counter while his accomplices guarded the door: “The man ordered a loaf of bread, Achmed went to get it and when he got back the man asked for something else.”
It was on his return from getting the second item that the man pointed a gun at the Mursal demanding he open the staff entrance and let them inside.
Allie said: “The man told Achmed to open the gate. He and his friends entered and emptied the till – there was about R15 000 inside.”
According to Allie the robbers took some of the groceries, airtime, cigarettes.
Allie said Mursal did not fight or resist and obeyed the instructions of the robbers, but one of them shot him anyway.
Mursal was shot at close range in his stomach. He died at the scene.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said the armed men walked off with an undisclosed amount of money, cigarettes and airtime. He said no arrests had been made and urged those with information to contact Harare police station.
Ndithini Tyhido, from the Khayelitsha Development Forum, said they condemned acts of criminality: “Crimes such as these create obstacles in the development of our communities. These small businesses are boosting our community.
“We hope that the police will leave no stone unturned and bring the culprits to book.”
Endlovini councillor Anele Gubuza said
: “We condemn abuse and violence against foreigners; we are the same blood.
“Shop owners should not be violated and killed in their shops.”
zodidi.dano@inl.co.za
Cape Argus