Omar’s nephew killed in Cape
MURDERS GREAT CONCERN – MANDLA MANDELA Shaheed Omar shot dead in apparent attempted hijacking on Thursday.
The nephew of the late anti-apartheid stalwart and Cabinet minister Dullah Omar was killed this week in an apparent attempted car hijacking. Shaheed Omar, 38, son of Dr Adam Omar, the brother of Dullah Omar, was shot and killed on the corner of Lansdowne Road and Jan Smuts Road in Lansdowne, Cape Town, on Thursday night.
The Muslim Judicial Council (SA), or MJC, said Omar died on the scene and was laid to rest in an Islamic funeral ceremony yesterday afternoon.
MJC spokesperson Mishka Daries said: “It was an attempted hijacking and we are sending our condolences to the family.”
The family declined to comment.
According to recent statistics released by police, hijacking is increasing.
In the 2016-17 financial year, 12 743 cars were hijacked, there were 11 086 in 2015-16 and 9 561 in 2014-15.
Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk said they were investigating a case of murder and have appealed to anyone with information about Omar’s shooting to contact the police.
Mandla Mandela, a member of the Royal House of Mandela, said in a statement the killings must stop. “The killing fields of Cape Town are cause for great concern,” he said.
“We call on the South African Police Service to work together with their provincial and local government counterparts, and community safety structures, to devise a sustainable strategy to stop innocent civilians from losing their lives in such a senseless and callous manner.”
He said the National Prosecuting Authority also had a contribution to make in this regard, “as do the people – all of us – for whom it is surely time to rise up, protest and express our indignation at this and other tragedies”.
Last week, Rhythm City actor Dumi Masilela was shot and later died after an attempted hijacking in Tembisa.