Barbara Maregele and Jason Felix
A DISTINCTIVE black Mercedes-Benz which was hijacked on Monday night has led police to arrest a man after the cold-blooded murder of four Pakistani bread delivery men in Mitchells Plain.
The four men who were shot dead on Tuesday night were Muhammed Shafique, 42, Andan Haider, 24, Shahzad Ahmed, 22 and Baqar Ghulam, 24. Another two were injured, Asif Ahmed, and Shahzad Ahmed, who is in critical condition.
Relatives said three of the men had come to Cape Town just under four years ago to escape violence in Pakistan.
Members of the Pakistani community protested outside the Mitchells Plain police station yesterday and then marched to Parliament.
They said South Africa was a beautiful country but also a place of horror. “It is painful for our families back home to deal with death here,” said one.
Yesterday it emerged that police had arrested a man driving a black Mercedes B200 Turbo with tinted windows in Grassy Park yesterday morning. They were searching for the car in connection with the hijacking of a young Lansdowne woman on Monday night during which the woman was shot in a shoulder and a hand. (See page 3.)
Police found a gun and a safe in the car which linked it and the driver to the Mitchells Plain shooting in Uranus Street.
The men had been working for Eastern Distributors, a bread delivery business owned by Abib Hussein.
Police spokesman Tembinkosi Kinana said a murder docket had been opened.
“A 28-year-old man was arrested and will appear soon in the Magistrate’s Court in Mitchells Plain. The police recovered a firearm and the safe that was reportedly taken from the house where the incident took place,” he said.
Yesterday a shocked witness said the men were watching a movie in the living room while she was in another room, when, just after 10pm, two armed men entered the house demanding money.
“The house was quiet and I was with my 12-year-old daughter in the back room. We were eating. I heard the commotion outside and the guys in the living room made a noise,” she said.
“One guy had a gun in his hand and held it up as he was
walking through the house. He came to the room and asked for a safe with money. Baqar then came into the room.
“He asked Baqar for the safe and Baqar went and fetched it. He first asked what Baqar his name was. After Baqar handed over the safe he was shot twice.
“I just closed my eyes and heard a third gunshot going off. I opened my eyes and Baqar was lying on the floor with blood in his face. I froze.
“Four more shots went off in the living room. I did not know what to do. I saw my daughter and just held her,” she said, weeping.
She said Saji, Haider, Ahmed and Ghulam had been part of the community since their arrival in 2009.
Hussein’s neighbour, who does not want to be named, said he had chased the gunmen after they shot and killed one of the men on the pavement.
“I ran outside when I heard the gunshots.
“There was a body in front of my gate. I could not see who it was and covered it with some sheets.”
All four men killed were cousins of Rana Bilal, 28. A distressed Bilal said yesterday his cousins had been targeted by competitors.
“This is not a robbery or housebreaking. My cousins became a target because they are doing good business. A week ago Baqar (Ghulam) was robbed when he delivered bread here in Rocklands.
“I am destroyed by this. The community here loves us and we do our best to help them,” Bilal said.
Rocklands Neighbourhood Watch chairman Raymond Wanewich said that crime in Rocklands, especially robberies, was on the rise.