Egyptian shot by militants in S. Africa, father calls for justice

CAIRO – 6 June 2018: An Egyptian citizen was shot dead by armed criminals in South Africa, while he was driving a car laden with goods that he sells to his clients.

Fathy Abdullah Gado travelled 10 years ago from his home village in Gharbiya governorate, north of Egypt, to South Africa to make a living and help his family. “My son was a clever student, and wanted to travel to make money to meet the needs of our family. He used to send us money to cope with the burdens of life,” Fathy's father, Abdullah, told Egypt Today.


Fathy's father Abdullah grieved over his son's death - courtesy of Abdullah


Before he heard about his son’s death, the father said that he had convinced Fathy to take a vacation and come back to spend the rest of the holy month of Ramadan with the family in Egypt.

Fathy used to trade in household appliances and carpets; he used to buy the goods from a merchant, and then roam along with his partner to sell them.

“Last Wednesday [May 30], we received a phone call from one of his [Fathy’s] friends in South Africa, telling us about his death after an armed gang stopped him and his partner while they were driving a car, and tried to steal them by force. [Fathy] was killed, and his partner was injured by a fire shot,” said Abdullah.

The location where Fathy and his friend were shot in South Africa was not identified.
Abdullah said that he has not yet received his son’s body to bury it, calling on officials at the Egyptian Embassy in South Africa to speed up the procedures of obtaining the body transport permit. His father further called on the Foreign Affairs Ministry to bring justice to his son’s case.

In March, two Egyptian citizens – Tamer Sayed, 18, and Mohamed Abdel Sattar, 38 – were shot dead in Olievenhoutbosch, Centurion. The Egyptian Embassy in South Africa contacted officials to obtain body transport permits, and the two bodies were flown back to Egypt, the embassy said in a press statement.

Egypt follows up on death of 2 citizens in South Africa

CAIRO - 9 March 2018: The Egyptian Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa announced that it has contacted the South African authorities on Wednesday to officially follow up on the investigation into the killing of two Egyptian citizens in the Gauteng province.

Last November, Egyptian Mohamed Nawar was found dead in a shallow grave near a river in the reserve of Limpopo, South Africa. The investigation revealed that Nawar was killed and buried by a band of thieves who wanted his car.

Consequently, the Foreign Ministry urged Egyptian expats in South Africa to be cautious and not to walk around with large amounts of cash.

In 2015, the head of the Egyptian community in South Africa, Mohamed Talaat, told El-Watan newspaper that the number of Egyptian expatriates in the country exceeds 20,000 nationals, and that they mostly work in the field of carpets and household appliances trading.