Nigerian killed as Cape Town club war rages on

14 May 2017 - 17:51 By Aron Hyman And Nashira Davids
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Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

Another shooting at a nightclub in Cape Town has claimed the life of a 26-year-old Nigerian.

Chimezie Oranusi was shot in Strand last Sunday‚ said Charles Ezeanozie‚ elder statesman for the Nigerian Union South Africa in the Western Cape.

He said Oranusi was in his car with a friend when gunmen forced their way in and opened fire. “He managed to drive with the bullet wounds for a few kilometres until he (crashed) his car‚ slumped over and died.”

The attackers did not demand anything so the motive for the shooting was unclear‚ he said. The woman in the vehicle was shot but survived.

Night club owners have pleaded for help from the City of Cape Town as their establishments become battlegrounds in an alleged escalating battle for control between protection syndicates.

The City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security‚ JP Smith‚ said two recent shootings and “brawls and skirmishes” between bouncers and “security guards” from rival protection rackets would take a toll on the local economy and tourist numbers.

“The city has been approached by numerous night club owners. They are concerned about what is going on and the lack of action by the state because they feel that these criminals are coming into places and intimidating them‚" he said.

“They are waging their wars inside their business premises and they are not seeing any action by the police or by the state and that’s making them very worried.”

Smith said that for club owners‚ “laying intimidation charges with the police is akin to signing death warrants”.

He added: “Eventually‚ if this is sustained or continued it will have a negative impact (on tourism). Over time it will destroy a part of the Cape Town scene and night-time economy. It will seriously erode the willingness of visitors‚ local and domestic‚ to visit these places.”

The violence in night clubs is believed to be connected to other shootings‚ including an attack last Monday on suspected gang leader Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and an incident in Elsies River on May 1 in which four people died.

Ezeanozie said they were aware of the club shootings. “We warned our nationals to keep safe from locations - especially those areas which are heating up including the clubs‚” he said.

The union is also concerned that in less than a month three Nigerians have been killed in Cape Town. “We are begging the minister of police to look into the murders as a serious concern‚” said Ezeanozie.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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