Sheldon Cohen

Sheldon Cohen (1960 - 2008)

Brief overview:

Sheldon (47), was shot in the neck, by armed robbers, outside the Balfour Alexandra Football Club in eastern Johannesburg, on the evening of Monday 28th January 2008. He died at the scene.

Sheldon had been speaking on his mobile phone with his father Jack at the time. The perpetrators thought that he was contacting the police as a few minutes earlier they had attempted to rob Jos Miller, who was also waiting for her son to finish the soccer practice.

"Captain Phillip Maganedisa said that in their attempt to get away, the attackers apparently saw Cohen speaking on his cellphone in his blue Toyota Rav4 three cars further along. They fired a shot, hitting him in the neck. He died on the scene."

“His windows were closed, the radio was apparently playing in his vehicle, and he possibly hadn’t even heard the woman screaming,” Captain Phillip Maganedisa said.

John Killas, another parent who was attending the practice, said they realised what had happened only when Jack Cohen arrived at the soccer club, frantic. “Jack told us he was busy talking to Sheldon on the phone, when Sheldon suddenly said something terrible is happening and the phone then went dead,” Killas said.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
  • 30th January 2008. Sheldon would have been celebrating his 48th birthday.
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • Michael Rosenthal, a gentle giant who managed a filling station near Soweto for many years without ever feeling he was in danger, was shot for his old car in suburban Johannesburg in front of his loved ones. For weeks, he fought for his life in hospital, and his death made no headlines, but was no less devastating to countless people who had been touched by his many unique strengths.
  • Lucky Dube, known and loved by music lovers throughout the world, was shot for a car in front of his children in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. *https://archive.is/yX7ba (Tribute)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
  • Mobile phone
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

"South Africa’s Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein, at Wednesday’s funeral of Sheldon Cohen, who was shot at Balfour Park in Johannesburg on Monday night. Sheldon Cohen, who touched the lives of so many South Africans as a family man, community leader, businessman, investor and mentor, was shot for a cellular phone as he waited for his son to finish a soccer game.

Ironically, Sheldon had begun to explore the online world of social networking shortly before his death. He had first taken me under his wing as my editor on the campus newspaper, Wits Student; years later, we would briefly collaborate when he became a dot.com investor during the first internet boom — some of the start-ups he backed are still out there; and then last week, after he had joined the LinkedIn online network, I checked in with him to find out if he had a new mission in life.

He replied: “I am trying to extract that book that I have always had in me. I am making some art and playing around with some investments. And I am working hard on my personal evolution in all dimensions. So far … fantastic!”

His achievements had been enormous — much has been written about them elsewhere — but he still had a passionate desire to become a better person. That impulse to keep learning, growing and improving, and to love life itself, is a powerful legacy he has left, and is some comfort.

But the destruction of dreams such as he had leaves us with no comfort. And in every murder we see dreams destroyed. Not only of the victim, but also of the family, the relatives, the friends, the admirers and all those who share a dream of a country in harmony.

Sheldon, rest in peace, but let those left behind rage at your passing."

Sheldon Cohen was the former CEO of electronic equipment group Amalgamated Appliances (Amaps)

Links to Media articles:

• https://archive.is/6W5dV
• https://archive.is/SVvJP
• https://archive.is/1H0Hm
• https://archive.is/Y6wWy