By Carlo Petersen

Cape Town – A relative of a Somali national who was shot dead in Mitchells Plain along with two of his countrymen says a religious dispute led to their deaths.

The gunman, also a Somalian, has since been arrested, said police spokesman Frederick Van Wyk.

Three other Somali men were shot and wounded during the same incident on Wednesday. Brothers Abdi, 39, and Mohamed Musri, 40, died in hospital.

Mohamed Osman, spokesman for the Somali Association of South Africa, told the Cape Times on Thursday his cousin Abdi Madope, 40, was shot dead first at the Mitchells Plain Town Centre.

“They were friends. They used to go to mosque together and were helping each other on their spiritual journey. He (the gunman) must have been in a crazed state of dementia when he shot Abdi because they had a theological dispute.

“They were both religious men who went to mosque regularly and prayed together, but they had an argument,” he said.

Osman said the gunman was well known in the local Somali community.

“He is not a bad person, although he does have a short temper. People have said there is a trend of infighting among us, but that is a generalisation. This was an isolated incident,” he said.

Van Wyk said police responded to the shooting at 5.50pm.

“Four men had been shot near the vicinity of an informal restaurant. A 40-year-old Somali foreign national was fatally wounded at the scene and declared dead by paramedics.

“It is alleged that the suspect approached the victims and he fired several shots at them.The deceased sustained multiple bullet wounds to the body. The three victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Two of them, aged 39 and 40 years, later died in hospital,” he said.

Van Wyk said a 30-year-old was still being treated in hospital. Police later arrested a man with an unlicensed 9mm pistol and ammunition.

He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and the unlicensed possession of a firearm and ammunition when he appears in court on Friday.

Abie Isaacs, chairman of the Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum, urged the community not to speculate about the motive.

“We condemn such acts and send condolences to the families of the victims,” he said. “We would also like to applaud the police for making such a swift arrest.”

Isaacs said Wednesday’s shooting was an isolated incident and not linked to other crimes at the Town Centre.

carlo.petersen@inl.co.za

Cape Times