Criminals targeting foreign shop owners

Indo-Pak spaza shop owners around Vosloorus are living in fear of their lives following several attacks in which shops operated by their countrymen in the township have been targeted by criminals.

Thelle Mogoerane Hospital spokesperson Philani Mhlungu confirmed that an Indo-Pak national died of his injuries while two others, in an unrelated incident, were discharged from the same hospital following a robbery attack at their business premises in which they also were robbed of money and cellphone airtime vouchers.

Two other shopkeepers who identified themselves as Bangladeshi nationals, Humayan Kabir, and his younger brother, Shoel Mia, told Kathorus MAIlL they narrowly escaped death when their spaza shop in Eastfield was attacked by three to four men in the early hours of April 17.

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Mia described how he and his brother were attacked by a number of unknown men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

“They broke the burglar door, after jumping over the front wall, to gain access to the premises and the shop,” said a traumatised Mia. He escaped with a gunshot wound on the upper part of his right thigh.

Mia said after ransacking the shop and taking money and cellphone airtime vouchers, one of the men fired two shots, hitting him in the right thigh with the bullet exiting through the right buttock. He said he considers himself lucky he was not shot in the head or upper body as he lay face down at the back of the shop. “I am sure I would be dead by now,” said a visibly shaken Mia.

Mia’s eldest brother, Humayun Kabir, who was with him when their shop was attacked, said he also considers himself fortunate to have escaped with a fist blow on his right cheek by one of the attackers.

“I feared for the worst when I heard gunshots fired from the room where Shoel was held by one of the attackers. I feared for both our lives as I thought this was the end for us,” explained an equally shaken Kabir.

Mhlungu said that since the majority of township informal shop owners are non-South Africans, and most of them are of Indo-Pak origin, they are often admitted at the hospital, especially after acts of criminality or xenophobic violence.

Meanwhile, incidents of the past few weeks indicate an orchestrated criminal pattern behind the current attacks on Indo-Pak spaza shop owners.

The Indo-Pak shopkeeper who was admitted to Thelle Mogoerane Hospital on March 6 suffered a gunshot wound during the robbery. The man was later discharged from the hospital on April 29.

The following day, another Indo-Pak national was, according to Mhlungu, admitted at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head after he was attacked at his spaza shop in Vosloorus. He died on April 12.

Kabir and Shoel admitted that many foreign nationals don’t report these attacks to the police for fear of reprisals.

“We try not to look at their faces during these robberies because we don’t want to be killed. We are scared they might think we will identify them to the police. We do not even bother to report the matter to the police when we are attacked. What if the guy is released on bail and comes to your shop to shoot you dead?”

Mhlungu said a high number of Indo-Pak nationals were often admitted to the hospital following robbery attacks.

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“Most of them refuse to give the address of the shop where they were robbed,” said Mhlungu.

He also confirmed that one Bangladeshi national was killed during these attacks.

“I can also tell you that we do have regular patrol vehicles in the areas where these attacks are frequent. I think most of them get protected by private security companies,” said Rossouw.