Ugandan shot dead in Cape Town

By Edward Laabu in Cape Town

A Ugandan national has been shot dead during a suspected robbery in Delft, one of the suburbs notorious for violent criminal activities, in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to sources, Meddi Walusimbi was attacked by a gang of thugs in his barber shop on one of the streets at lunch time on Wednesday.

The robbers reportedly demanded for money, but Walusimbi tried to resist.

In the ensuing scuffle, one of the thugs pulled out a gun and shot him into the head. He died instantly, and the robbers fled the scene.

Walusimbi's body was taken to the mortuary in Cape Town as police investigates the incident.

The Delft Police Station investigating officer, Captain Cilliera, declined to comment on the case.

Sources said Walusimbi went to South Africa in 2006, and has been operating a small barber shop for a living on the main street in Delft in Western Cape.

Ugandans in South Africa who knew Walusimbi said he was a polite and soft-spoken person with interest in football. He was a Manchester United fan.

After his death, a community of Ugandans in Cape Town organised a football match in his memory, and to raise funds to facilitate transportation of his body to Uganda.

His body is expected to be brought back home next week.