Community outrage as another Soweto spaza shop owner accused of shooting local man

13 Aug 2024

Mother tells of devastation after her son was allegedly shot twice in the stomach by a foreign spaza shop owner who accused him and his friend of loitering around his shop. He is now fighting for his life in hospital. The incident has sparked outrage, looting and calls for a shutdown of foreign-owned spaza shops in the area.

The community of White City in Soweto is outraged following the assault and shooting of a local man.

The victim, 21-year-old Lusanda Ngcobo, had gone to the spaza store to buy a cold drink after knocking off work.

The Gauteng South African Police Services (SAPS) confirmed the shooting happened over the past weekend.

“There was a person shot and injured at the weekend, and the person is in a stable condition in hospital,” said spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza.

“Moroka police together with Johannesburg Metro Police Department members today (on Monday, 12 August) monitored the situation in White city following allegations of shops being closed. At this stage no shops were closed and there were no injuries. No arrests either. Police are currently talking to the community leaders and monitoring the situation.”

Portia Nkwana, a family friend, told Daily Maverick on Monday afternoon that “the child was shot just after 7pm on Saturday outside the store”.

Sudden attack

“We are still shocked at this sudden attack on an innocent child,” Nkwana said. “He went to the store to buy a Stoney (ginger beer) soft drink together with his friend. They then went outside, but while outside the store owner accused them of idling around and ordered them to leave,” said Nkwana.

The pair are said to have told the storekeeper and his accomplices that they were not loitering about, and that even if that were they did not see any problem as they were outside the store.

The storekeeper and his companions allegedly then beat them with a stick, something which the pair vehemently protested against. This is when the storekeeper allegedly pulled out a firearm and shot the victim twice in the stomach, and fled.

“He is in a critical condition at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. Today he underwent a second surgery to try to retrieve the second bullet lodged in his stomach after the first one was removed,” Nkwana told Daily Maverick.

“He is unconscious, and we are still fighting for justice as the store owner disappeared. We were here at the Moroka police station to seek justice and for the store owner to be apprehended and charged,” Nkwana said.

Devastation

Phumzile Mnisi, the victim’s mother, expressed her devastation at what befell her son. She said she was too distraught and in no state to be in direct contact with the police looking into the case, and that the police were in contact with her brother.

“I am devastated, it’s painful. I can’t even talk. My son was undergoing a second operation to remove the bullet today. He is still unconscious in ICU,” Mnisi said.

She said her son was a lovely and warm person.

This is not the first incident in Soweto in which a foreign-owned spaza shop owner has been accused of shooting at locals.

In 2015, 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori from Snake Park was shot in the neck at Raso Supermarket. His killing culminated in a wave of looting of foreign-owned spaza shops across Soweto.

Read in Daily Maverick: A killing in Snake Park: Unravelling the threads of a South African tragedy

The spaza shop where Ngcobo was shot and other foreign-owned shops in the area were closed on Monday with the owner and his companions nowhere to be found.

For some years now there has been a hostile tolerance of foreign spaza shops in Soweto following such actions allegedly by foreign spaza shop owners, with one of the pressing issues being the foreign spaza shops’ unregulated trade.

Read in Daily Maverick: Soweto family seeking answers after toxicology report clears spaza shop of link to boys’ deaths

When asked about the community’s relationship with the foreign spaza shop owners, Ward 37 Councillor Papi Chetsang said: “In relation to the shop owners and the residents, I feel that there’s division between the landlords accommodating the foreign owners and local shop owners as they feel that they are being cheated of business in their homeland, so it’s a question of survival in that case.

“The shooting was unfortunate and there’s been a few incidents of such nature, and we continue to condemn such occurrences. We should be building each other and not trying to take each other's lives.”

Angry community member Kefilwe Maraisane told Daily Maverick on Monday that as the community they were fed up and wanted the foreign-owned spaza shops to close down for good.

“We support them with our hard-earned cash, but they thank us with body bags,” said another resident, Lwazi Mkhize.

Residents claim that foreign shop owners have adopted a tendency of aligning themselves with rogue elements in the community for their and their stores’ protection.

“This has emboldened the foreign spaza shop owners to harass locals. They are encouraged by other locals to harass locals. Previously, when they clashed with community members for whatever reason, and the community members insulted them, they would keep quiet, but now they return the same insults. They have even learned swearing in Zulu,” said Maraisane.

No arrests were reported for the looting of some shops in the area on Monday. DM

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Sudden attack

Devastation