Johannesburg - The Somali shopowner accused of shooting dead a Soweto teenager applied for bail in the Protea Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, saying he did not intend killing the boy.
In an affidavit, Alodixashi Sheik Yusuf stated he could afford R3000 bail. He described in detail the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori on Monday, January 19.
Yusuf said he had just closed his shop in Snake Park, Soweto, when he heard people trying to open the roller door and others on the roof.
He and his brother pushed the door down and as this happened, one of the people outside the shop dropped a gun.
The firearm landed in the shop and he and his brother shut the door. Yusuf said he picked up the gun and fired at the roller door and the roof.
The crowd remained outside and police arrived a short while later.
“I then saw there was a boy shot,” Yusuf said in his affidavit.
He informed the court he intended pleading not guilty to the charges he faces of murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of a firearm.
A few foreign nationals were present in court as proceedings got underway.
Dressed in a grey hooded jacket and khaki pants, Yusuf followed the proceedings through an interpreter.
He told the court he had valid refugee status and had been in South Africa since 2006.
He had no assets in Somalia, was a divorced father of one and a breadwinner.
Yusuf claimed he had been assaulted in jail.
“I did not receive any assistance from the police,” he said in his affidavit.
Magistrate Herman Badenhorst adjourned proceedings. He was expected to make his ruling soon.
Sapa