Durban - POLICE are searching for those involved in the murder of Copper Chimney restaurant manager Rashid Khan in Phoenix on Sunday night.
Khan, who emigrated from Pakistan, was shot dead while seated in a Nissan 1400 bakkie on Flintstone Road.
He had returned home with his co-workers. The bakkie was stationary at the gate.
His landlord of 10 years, Soraya Khan, said her family rushed out when they heard shots.
She said Khan was shot in the neck and hip. She blamed non-functioning street lights for aiding the shooter's escape.
“He was the breadwinner for his family back home. He came to South Africa to earn a living but instead he was murdered. Arrangements are being made for his funeral in Pakistan. Nothing was stolen from him,” Khan said.
Flintstone Road Neighbourhood Watch chairperson Nazira Yasin said a man wearing a hooded jacket and face mask stepped out of the darkness and shot Khan.
Yasin said the shooter walked away and got into a car waiting nearby. Khan was taken to hospital but died on arrival.
“We are not sure if this was an attempted hijacking or a hit. Rashid lived with a group of workers on the property. The community is in shock. We have written to our councillor regarding the street lighting. We're also dealing with petty crime, trespassing and prostitution in the area."
Phoenix police station officers are investigating a case of murder.
In a separate incident, also on Sunday night, two men died on the Snake Park Pier along the Durban Beachfront.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said the men, both 25, allegedly had an argument. “They both drew their knives and fatally stabbed each other. Charges of murder were opened at Durban Central police station.”
Fisherman Shayed Rahiman said he knew one of the deceased as Siya.
Rahiman wrote on Facebook: “He (Siya) came on the pier as a nobody, as a street kid. He joined us all irrespective of race. He became one of the fishermen. He learnt from us how to fish. He helped us in times when we needed him. He got us sea lice and helped us to take our items to the car. Thank you for being a friend on some lonely nights on the pier.”
On Saturday, a Chatsworth man, 42, died in hospital of stab wounds. Gwala said that during an earlier altercation, an 18-year-old victim was stabbed at a party in Moorton.
“The following day, the father of the victim tried to establish the details surrounding his son’s stabbing. In an altercation in Arena Park the father was stabbed. Two men were arrested for murder.”
Daily News