Family of slain e-hailing driver says death ‘feels unreal’
The family of a KwaZulu-Natal e-hailing driver killed outside Maponya Mall in Soweto says they still don’t know when they can lay him to rest.
Twenty-seven-year-old Mthokozisi Mvelase from Ulundi was shot and his car torched while he was inside on Wednesday night, just days after starting his new job as a driver.
" We wish that they would just communicate more and tell us like how far they are with the process. At this stage, we haven't planned anything regarding the funeral because they had briefly mentioned that it might be two, three weeks because of the condition of his body,” says Mvelase's aunt, Zanele Khuzwayo.
The attack, linked to taxi violence, has sparked outrage in the community, with residents of Pimville blocking roads and shutting down the mall.
They say they have had enough of minibus taxi operators intimidating and bullying not only e-hailing drivers but passengers too.
Mvelase had left KZN three weeks ago and started driving passengers this week.
"We didn't even know that he had started on Monday already. So he started on Monday, and then on Wednesday, the tragedy happened,” says Khuzwayo.
She says her nephew's death felt unreal, and only hit home when she went to the police station.
" I arrived yesterday, it just became a reality because all along I thought I was dreaming. I had slept on Wednesday night because I was thinking, no, it's not right. And then it became a reality yesterday, started referring to him as the body."
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