VICTIM ... Somali shop-owner Ahmed Abudah Abraham was attacked by residents of Kuyga near Greenbushes who tried to force themselves inside the shop using his bakkie.
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JOHANNESBURG - Police and army battalions with helicopter gunships and combat armed vehicles were called in to deal with an unruly, stone-throwing mob of about 4000 who attacked a Somali-owned shop in Port Elizabeth last night.
Residents had earlier threatened to kill a Somali owner before stoning his spaza shop.Another Somali shopkeeper, Ibraham Ali Hasson, was slain on Monday night.
He was shot by an unknown number of assailants in the Kuyga, Greenbushes shop at 10pm. Nothing was stolen.
Last night, police arrived in 15 vans and were deployed in Kuyga after residents looted a spaza shop owned by Somalis.
Despite only foreigners being targeted, police maintain the incident was not xenophobic but had “criminal motives”.
Ahmed Abdulahi Braham, owner of Bafana Bafana spaza, was hit in the mouth by a stone. A violent mob tried to force open his shop by ramming the door with his bakkie.
“We don’t know why these people attack us,” said another Somali, Mustafa Mohamed.
“I was coming from a funeral of one of the Somalis who was shot yesterday when I was told to close down the shop because members of the community are coming to attack us.
“We are now going to take all of our things and go. It is not safe here. We do not know when they will come back again to kill us,” he said.
Police spokesman Captain Sandra van Rensburg said: “We do not suspect these attacks to be related to xenophobia at all. We have investigated the motive and it is alleged that the one Somali fraternity in the area is using the community to attack other Somali-owned shops in what appears to be a fight over prices of items.
“We know of one shop owner who has thus far packed up shop and moved all his goods to a place in Korsten as he feared being looted.”
When The Herald arrived last night, a crowd was stoning Braham’s bakkie while a group of Somalis guarded the shop.
Police arrived shortly afterwards and asked all foreign shop-owners to close and leave, but some refused.
Less than an hour later, hundreds of chanting residents began stoning the police and several vehicles were damaged.
Braham said: “We were scared to lock ourselves in the shop because we thought they might burn us inside. All we know at this moment is one of the Somali shop owners influenced people to come and loot our shop. We don’t know why.”
Police arrested a man after he approached the shops with a gun. “There were five rounds in the 9mm pistol the guy had on him,” said one officer. Cases of theft and intimidation have been opened by shop owners.
Meanwhile, troops joined police last night at Kya Sands north of Johannesburg after 11 people from Zimbabwe and Mozambique were injured in assaults and clashes on Monday night. Soldiers and police, who held 12 people, camped overnight to maintain order.
A soccer match between Jomo Cosmos and Zimbabwe’s Highlanders, the “Ubuntu Derby”, takes place in Johannesburg on Sunday to unite Africans against xenophobia, Action Support Centre said.
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Comments (2 posted):
It is going to be worst in less than a month because the ear on the ground is hearing cries for land, jobs, equality and justice. The slogan one bullet one farmer is also heard from a distance.
Land, land, land, land to its rightful people. Without it and pretending that the land problem does not exist will only result to more blood rivers.
Tembo has warned evils holding on to what is not theirs and he is ready to salute and sincerely work with those who defend our heritage.
This is the beginning of slaughter of innocent foreigners especially fellow blacks. I will tell you one thing for sure, the living standards of most South Africans will not greatly improve by bashing Zimbos, Nigerians and Somalis.
You talk of land and I am sure South Africa will go the same way as Zimbabwe. Nobody is against land reform but some of the ways that were used in Zim were not well thought out. We were told in the early 90s that land would free us from neo colonialism but 10 years down the road we depend on the same neo colonialists to feed our own. We have now seen the truth of the real intent of land reform Zanu PF way with Mliswa defrauding some commercial farmers of their assets in the name of land reform. He is not the only one and if he is convicted then a can of worms will be opened.
The same is true about the Marange diamonds. We have been told that these diamonds will free us economically but I am sure the bulk of the loot will end up in the same people who looted the land.
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