Calls for calm as deadly mosque attack probe starts
A man who killed two men in a mosque near Cape Town was a stranger who had asked for refuge‚ say witnesses.
Imhraan Mukaddam‚ who said one of the victims was married to his cousin‚ said on Thursday the knifeman arrived at the mosque on Wednesday night and asked if he could join the I’tikaaf prayers‚ which are held on the last 10 days of Ramadan.
Speaking outside the mosque‚ Mukaddam said his relative was killed in his sleep when the man cut his throat.
Police said another man was killed and several others injured before officers arrived and shot the man dead.
“The suspect, believed to be in his 30s and armed with a knife, was still on the scene and charged at the police who tried to persuade him to hand himself over,” police said in a statement.
As dawn broke on Thursday‚ and with rain pouring‚ his body could be seen lying in an open field about 400m from the mosque‚ in Nerina Avenue, in the small town of Malmesbury.
Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato arrived at the mosque at about 8.30am to meet officials.
There was no initial indication the incident was linked to an attack on a mosque in Verulam‚ north of Durban‚ in May. One man was killed and two others critically injured in that attack when three men stormed the mosque.
Mukaddam said it was tragic that “we started Ramadan with the atrocity in Durban and we’re ending it with a tragedy in the same note”.
He added: “I appeal to communities to work together for peace‚ and let’s not import these foreign concepts into our Islam. Islam in SA has been here for 300 years‚ and we’ve never had this kind of situation where we attack each other … on the basis of politically and religiously inspired agendas that have nothing to do with us.”
Numerous reports suggested the attacker was Somalian‚ but there was no official confirmation. The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) said in a statement on its Facebook page that it was “shocked to its core to learn of a brutal attack on the Malmesbury Masjied in Cape Town in the early hours of this morning”.
“We can confirm that two people have been killed whilst in I’tikaaf and another regular musallee of the Masjied injured.
“We do not have any further details as yet but we urge the community not to jump to any conclusions until clarity can be given,” the MJC added.
The Hawks were investigating the attack.
“This should be taken very seriously, but our sense is it’s domestic in origin — no organisation is doing this,” said Frans Cronje, CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations.
“It may be that a handful of scholars have been able to take advantage of those in tough economic circumstances.”