Indian businessman shot dead by robber

Fakir Hassen

Pretoria, Aug 4 (PTI) An Indian businessman was shot
dead at his home in South Africa on Tuesday in a robbery
attempt in which one of the attackers was also killed when the
victim's brother opened fire in retaliation.

The incident occurred in the Indian suburb of Laudium,
west of Pretoria. The victim Yusuf Joosub succumbed to a
single shot in the stomach before an ambulance arrived.

The victim's elder brother Faizel Joosub, who rushed to
his aid after hearing a gun shot, fired at the attacker. The
robber, identified as Sandileli Lali, died on the spot.

"I kept blasting him until my pistol was empty," Faizel
told the the Afrikaans daily Beeld, describing how he fired
away wildly after hearing a shot in the room where one of the
robbers had taken his younger brother to look for money.

A second unidentified robber and Joosub's maid fled from
the scene and are being looked for by the police. It is
believed that the maid opened a steel burglar gate and back
door to the Joosub residence, the paper said.

"I was in the living room and heard the maid come in
through the back door," Faizel said. "The next moment there
were two men next to me and one asked: 'Where is your
brother?' I said he was in his room."

Johan Britz, station commander of the Laudium police
station said Yusuf's life could have been saved if the
paramedics had arrived earlier. "(Yusuf) still got up, talked
to his mother and sat down on a chair," he said.

According to Jousub's family members, one robber plucked
out a pistol and they went down the passage to Yusuf's
bedroom.

One of the robbers then pulled his mother Zubeida Joosub
out of her room and gagged her with a cloth. He then ordered
Faizel to lie on the ground and hit him over the head with a
pistol.

Faizel said he could hear how the other robber was
asking his brother for money.

"My brother said the money was in a cupboard. When I
realised the other robber was not behind me any longer, I took
my pistol out of my belt," he said.

The robber in his brother's room had his back towards
the open bedroom door.

"There was a shot and then I just started shooting. I
did not stop shooting until the magazine was empty."

Yusuf Joosub was buried at the Laudium Cemetery in
accordance with the Muslim practice of burial on the same day.

For the past two years, there have been a number of
murders and robberies in the close-knit community, largely
because of reports that businessmen tend to keep huge stashes
of cash at their homes in various currencies.

Last year, protests from the community led to visits by
the Minister of Safety and Security, who promised firm action.
Local residents threatened to form vigilante groups to
safeguard their families. PTI CORR
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