South Africa: Four held for teen looter’s death

Friday, January 30, 2015

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Pretoria - Four people were arrested for the murder of a teenager in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, national police said on Friday.

"Four Somalians aged between 25 and 40, have been arrested in Atteridgeville," Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said.

"They are charged with murder and will appear in court on Monday."

The 19-year-old was shot dead during looting on Thursday. Makgale said Atteridgeville residents protested on Wednesday about land grabs, which continued into the early hours of Thursday, when they damaged a councillor's house.

"After that they went on a rampage, looting spaza shops throughout Atteridgeville township."

On Friday, a South African was arrested following accusations that he shot a Somali on Thursday.

"When he went to one of the spaza shops this morning, a Somalian identified him as one of the looters who shot and wounded a Somalian."

Residents started attacking the man, but then called the police to deal with him.

He would appear in Atteridgeville Magistrate's Court on Monday to face a charge of attempted murder.

Makgale said the looting was indiscriminate and not necessarily aimed at foreign shop owners. It was during the looting that the teenager was killed.

This brought the death toll in violence between foreigners and locals over the past two weeks to nine. The violence began when 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori was shot dead in Snake Park, Soweto, last Monday. He was allegedly part of a group trying to rob a Somalian man's shop.

Over 180 people have been arrested in connection with public violence and possession of stolen property.

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