Omar’s nephew shot dead
Killed while shielding mother
TRAGEDY has struck the Omar family. They buried Shaheed Omar, nephew of anti-apartheid Struggle leader, Dullah Omar, yesterday, after he was shot dead at a busy intersection in Lansdowne, Cape Town, on Thursday night.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said a murder investigation was under way.
Sources close to the family said Omar, 44, and his mother, Subeida, were returning from visiting a sick relative on Thursday.
At about 8.30pm, he had slowed down at the corner of Govan Mbeki Road and Jan Smuts Drive, on the way to his home at Mabel Road, Rylands Estate, when he was approached by a man.
Omar had opened the door of his car when the man fired shots at him. Omar was reportedly shot in the chest, at point-blank range, in front of his mother.
The family source said they did not believe the shooting was politically motivated, after the withdrawal of the Omar name from the ANC’s Cape Metro Branch, where the ANC Youth League had marched in support of President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday, during the motion of no-confidence vote.
The family believed the shooting was criminally motivated and that Omar had tried to shield his mother by stepping out of the car and trying to reason with the gunman.
The grieving family held his funeral service at the Mountview Mosque, presided over by prominent members of the Muslim Judicial Council. Omar was buried at the Pooke Road Cemetery.
Yesterday, Omar’s colleagues at Old Mutual, where he worked as an investment specialist, were in mourning for a man many described as well-respected, well-liked, reliable and hard-working.
Speaking on behalf the Mandela family, Chief Zwelivelile Mandlesizwe Dalibhunga Mandela condemned the murder which they said had greatly shocked and saddened them.
“On behalf of the royal house of Mandela, the Mvezo Traditional Council and my family, we wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the Omar family.
“The killing fields of Cape Town are cause for great concern. 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,” said Mandela.
Shaykh Isgaak Taliep, of the Muslim Judicial Council, said: “Obviously from the Muslim community side and the Western (Cape) community, we are quite upset by the senseless killing of brother Shaheed Omar. Obviously the circumstances around the killing are still unknown to us. It came as a shock to us all, we’re all so very sad.
“We expect SAPS to do their job and do the necessary investigations and to find the perpetrators to bring them to court.”He said “as law-abiding citizens we would like to see these types of killings come to an end and the perpetrators to have their day in court, be imprisoned and not released on parole after two years.”
Van Wyk said no arrests had been made.