[imagesource:Facebook/Shaufik Nassar]

A 38-year-old Palestinian businessman was shot in Milnerton on Wednesday, just a few days after he arrived in the city.

Shafiq Nasser was shot and killed after unknown men on a motorbike opened fire on him on the corner of Bosmansdam and Omuramba Roads, near Montague Gardens, in Cape Town.

Nasser had apparently been out of the country and returned on Tuesday evening. He is said to have been on his way to a business meeting on Wednesday morning when unknown men on a motorbike shot at him. He fired back but had been shot in the head and was declared dead on the scene, per News24.

Cape Town: motive unclear but the possibility of an attempted hit or robbery is being investigated. pic.twitter.com/yJwF9aAC5p

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) October 4, 2023

The death of Nassar comes almost a year after his cousin Abdel Fattah Nassar was also shot and killed in a gun battle near the V&A Waterfront. The Times Of Israel mentioned that the incident was at first reported by the family as an automobile-related fatality, but the Foreign Ministry then said he had died in a gun battle.

Reports say that some members of the extended Nassar family have relocated to South Africa to better evade violence associated with their involvement in criminal activity. Abdel Fattah Nasser had been arrested several times in Israel on suspicion of violent crimes, including shootings and possession of firearms.

It is believed that Nassar was also involved in the Israeli underworld and had, according to reports, sought refuge in Cape Town from the gangland killings in that country. TimesLIVE reported the incident as an apparent assassination.

Nasser owned multiple businesses here in Cape Town, including Naser Constructions, based at Century City. Nassar’s brother said nobody knew he had returned to South Africa on Tuesday. He was also found with a large amount of money in his possession at the time of the shooting, sources said.

A witness said via IOL that the shooters fired seven shots at Nasser, at which point “He (the driver) couldn’t control the car, and he drove into a set of traffic lights and then hit a smaller Chevrolet Aveo and two bakkies.”

As pointed out, the latest killing comes after the Global Organised Crime Index showed that South Africa ranked seventh in the world as a hotbed for organised criminal activities, including drug trafficking, cash-in-transit operations, poaching syndicates and robberies.

It seems you’re not safe anywhere if you’re involved in the criminal underworld.

[source:news24]