THE business community of Helen Joseph (Davenport) Road is still reeling from the shocking murder of a young man who was shot during a robbery on the busy street on Friday afternoon.
A neighbouring businessman who wished to remain anonymous recounted Friday’s horrific incident. “I had seen him earlier in the afternoon because he always told us before he went to pray in case we wanted anything from the shop. I was on the phone when I heard a scream, then a gunshot. I came out and saw a lot of people running across the road and some ladies also working close by said it was a robbery.
“I went past the tearoom looking for where it happened and only when I returned I noticed his legs when I looked into the shop. I asked him what happened and he was holding onto his chest which was bleeding. He managed to say he was shot and asked me to please help him, all I could do was call the police and ambulance. He was constantly praying, “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest), I actually couldn’t get the prayer out of my head this whole weekend,” he told Berea Mail.
The businessman called the police and an ambulance. “I then called his brother who owned the store but he was unfortunately in Port Elizabeth and asked me to please help his brother. I just tried to reassure the young man that he will be okay, but was very worried and hoped the paramedics would be able to get him to hospital in time to save him,” he said.
Three men allegedly walked into the tearoom while the man was in the kitchen praying, they acted like they wanted to buy cigarettes from the cashier then tried to rob her, she screamed when one of the suspects pointed a firearm at her. It was as the man walked out that he was shot.
“I can’t believe it, I thought he was going to be okay, because the ambulance arrived really fast. I was shocked when his brother phoned me back that night to say he died. The whole weekend I couldn’t stop thinking about him, we are all traumatised by seeing someone dying in front of us, he was talking so I thought he would make it. This makes us worried, because they not only robbed him but also shot him, its scary. I’m afraid for my wife to be at our shop alone now,” the businessman said. He added the young man was in his early twenties was ‘a really good guy’, quiet but always greeted everyone with a smile.
Nqobile Gambushe, who lives in a flat above the tearoom, said the deceased man had become a friend. “I knew him as Raj, but we teased each-other about our height so I called him ‘Short. His English wasn’t so good so he wouldn’t chat too much and he was humble and quiet. I cried when I realised he died, it is such a shock – you never expect it would happen to someone close to you. He was young and handsome, this is absolutely senseless,” she said.
