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‘We want every South African who has Zimbabwean tenants to kick them out’ – Anger after man killed with hammer
By Cape Argus
CAPE TOWN: The murder of a father of two has resulted in residents at an informal settlement in Simon’s Town chasing Zimbabwean nationals out of the area.
Sibusiso Klaas, 37, was killed with a hammer yesterday at about 4am. The Red Hill man reportedly fought over a beer with a Zimbabwean man.
The victim’s father-in-law, Khayalethu Sam, said he heard someone knocking on his door.
“My wife woke me up and I opened it, the men told me that Sibusiso had been injured. I went to the scene and I saw that he had already died.
“I heard they were fighting over beer and a hammer was involved. The Zimbabwean man hit Sibusiso several times in the head.”
Sam said after the murder, the suspect threw water on the deceased.
“He then ran away. We managed to get his sister who called him.
“He told his sister that he was in Bellville where he was tracked down by the police and arrested.”
He added that angry community members have given notice to the foreigners living in the area to leave, he said.
“We gave them until Friday to leave because we don’t want to use any form of violence to get them out.
“We want every South African who has Zimbabwean tenants to kick them out. This is not the first time a Zimbabwean killed our people, a few years ago, a similar incident occurred and now they killed Sibusiso.”
Sam described Klaas as a quiet person who would never fight with anybody.
“He was a father, he was just celebrating his son’s fourth birthday and then decided to go to a shebeen because he wanted to listen to music.
“He was a hard-working man, he was married with two children, one of them a disabled daughter.”
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said Simon’s Town police registered a murder case for investigation following an incident where a 37-year-old man was beaten to death with a hammer in the early hours of yesterday morning at the Red Hill informal settlement in Simon’s Town.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. A 27-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested and will appear in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court once he has been charged.”