Case against Somalia shop owner dropped

The case against a man who allegedly shot a teenager during looting was withdrawn in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court on Monday because of a lack of evidence, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.
“The NPA couldn’t prove whether the gunshot came from the accused or the gunshot came from the crowd, and no firearm was found,” spokesperson Velekhaya Mgobhozi said, adding that the NPA sent its condolences to the slain teenager’s family and friends.
Somalian Inan Mohammed Abdirahman, 30, and three other men were arrested in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, after a 19-year-old was shot dead during looting in the area on 29 January.
Last Monday, Mgobhozi said the other three men had been released after only Abdirahman was pointed out during an identification parade.
On 30 January, Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale said Atteridgeville residents protested on 28 January about land grabs. Protests continued into the early hours on 29 January, when a councillor’s house was damaged.
“After that they went on a rampage, looting spaza shops throughout Atteridgeville township,” he said at the time.
Makgale said the looting was indiscriminate and not necessarily aimed at foreign shop owners. It was during the looting that the teenager was killed, bring to nine the number of deaths in recent clashes between foreigners and locals.
The violence began when 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori was shot dead in Snake Park, Soweto, on 19 January. He was allegedly part of a group trying to rob a Somalian man’s shop.

Source: SAPA