CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Two Somali nationals were brutally killed in a village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa as xenophobic violence is on the rise with no police action.
The killing took place in the Phillipi area, located on the outskirts of Cape Town in South Africa, and was carried out by armed bandits who fled from the scene before police arrived.
“The gangs killed the two Somaliss in their business place in the Phillipi area, and it was said that after the killing, they stole the important materials from the shop,” said a witness.
The two young men who were killed last night in South Africa were identified as Yusuf Mohamed Taakow and Mohamed Dek Mohayaddin.
After the murder, police officers from the country arrived at the scene and conducted a brief investigation that did not yield any results.
In this year, at least eight Somali citizens were killed in various places in South Africa. Somali traders and shopkeepers have been a particular target for attack in recent years.
Immigrants from Nigeria as well as Somalia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and South Asia flock to work in South Africa, one of the continent’s premier economies.
South Africa has seen waves of xenophobic violence as foreigners are accused of taking jobs away from South Africans, against the backdrop of increasing poverty and unemployment.
The killing is a recurring trend that has often targeted Somalis, who run small businesses in the sub-locations in the country, where there is no security protection for foreigners.
