Three shot as wholesaler’s robbed
Cape Town-160508-The Somali owned shop in Twon Two, Khayelitsha, Town Two Cash and Carry, was robbed yesterday by a gang wielding assault rifles. Three people were shot and wounded in the incident. Picture Jeffrey Abrahams. Reporter Mike. Cape Town-160508-The Somali owned shop in Twon Two, Khayelitsha, Town Two Cash and Carry, was robbed yesterday by a gang wielding assault rifles. Three people were shot and wounded in the incident. Picture Jeffrey Abrahams. Reporter Mike.
Michael Nkalane
THE owners of a Khayelitsha wholesaler were gripped with fear after heavily armed robbers stormed their shop, shot three people and ran off.
The wholesaler, in Town Two, was open for business yesterday after Saturday’s attack.
Owners Abukar Mohamed and Abdirahman Beerdilacshe, and a delivery truck driver were shot and injured.
Mohamed was admitted to Tygerberg Hospital, while Beerdilacshe was taken to Khayelitsha District Hospital.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said a case of business robbery was being investigated after a group of suspects robbed the wholesalers and made off with an undisclosed amount of money.
“Three victims suffered gunshot wounds during the incident and they were admitted to hospital. “No one has been arrested as yet,” he said.
Puntland Mohamed, who was in the store when it was robbed, said: “A group of robbers came here armed with R4s and blocked both entrances to the shop while ordering everyone to lie down.
“They became nervous and started shooting. It was during that shooting that Mohamed, Beerdilacshe and a driver were shot. They were taken to Tygerberg and Khayelitsha hospitals.
“We live in fear now. We don’t know when they might strike again.
“What we saw on Saturday was like a movie. I am lucky to be alive as one of the thugs tried to shoot me, but luckily bullets were already finished,” Puntland Mohamed added.
He said he was standing at one of the entrances waiting for the driver to offload goods when a man came up to him and pointed a rifle at him.
Puntland Mohamed said the robbery had a huge impact on their business, not only because they had lost money, but also because their customers were fearful.
Co-owner Ahmed Maha-med claimed they were always targeted because locals thought the Somalis had money. “This is the kind of reality we are faced with in South Africa.
“It is our South African story,” Mahamed said.
Malusi Gwentshu, who was sitting at a tavern opposite the wholesaler, said: “I have seen such guns in the movies carried by soldiers. I did not know that we have them in our midst.”
michael.nkalane@inl.co.za