Johannesburg – As taxi-related violence rocked Gqeberha in Eastern Cape this week, poignant scenes played themselves out in Kwa-Bhaca (formerly Mount Frere) as a group of hitmen, previously involved in the cold-blooded execution of taxi bosses, came face to face with the victims of their horrendous crimes.
The incident occurred outside the town of KwaBhaca when a group of taxi bosses was on their way back from the 2001 Taxi Indaba in Durban.
Five of them were killed execution-style, together with two motorists who were driving past the scene.
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In front of Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, who convened this victim-offender dialogue, the taxi hitmen, who carried out the executions, on Friday detailed the events leading to the fateful day as they now attempt to atone for their deeds.
Mzwandile Mtshemula, who is a parolee on this matter, said the leadership of Uncedo Taxi Association decided to kill a taxi boss known by his surname as Madolo, who was a member of Border Alliance Taxi Association. These two taxi organisations were in disagreement over the R61 route between Mthatha and Komani.
He said Madolo was the most vocal person in opposing the proposal to share the R61 route.
“We used a phrase Susa umqobo [get rid of an obstacle] in the taxi industry, in relation to people that were difficult to convince and the only way the industry knows how to get rid of the obstacle is to kill,” said Mtshemula.
Mtshemula said he was in charge of putting together two teams of hitmen, noting that the teams also went to Durban in order to observe and familiarise themselves with their targets.
He added that he had obtained military training and was trusted by the taxi association when tasked to kill Madolo.
“The plan was to kill Madolo alone and leave the others,” he said, adding that they had decided to execute the hit once the taxi left Mount Frere.
“We delegated someone to keep an eye on them when they arrived at KFC in Mount Frere. It was obvious to me, knowing the habits of the taxi operators, that they will stop and buy food at KFC. We told the person who was delegated to watch them as they leave KFC to tell me specifically about where Madolo was seated in that taxi. I wanted to make sure that I kill him only, not the others.”
After executing the plan, they drove away but the second team that was driving behind them arrived at the scene and fired more shots that resulted in the deaths of six more people, including the two motorists.
The Mpalwemi family from Sterkspruit said the incident had left them devastated because Mongameli Mpalwemi, who was driving the taxi that was shot at, was left paralysed and unable to drive again.
Mongameli said: “The car hit me with bright lights and I slowed down and drove on the sideway, allowing them to pass, that was when I started hearing gunshots. Since then, I have suffered from bladder cancer, I had kidney failures and I was too paralysed to work again.”
His wife Nomathamsanqa Mpalwemi said the offenders were catered for in prison and did not experience the kind of hardship that was experienced by the victims.
She said: “I was treated like I was the one responsible for the hit because I got the news of the attack later.
“I didn’t really pay much attention to the news. When I last spoke with my husband, he told me that they were at Harding and everything was fine.
“But people who got the news first came to our house and found me carrying out my domestic chores as normal. They started shouting at me, saying how can I be fine when my husband was among a group of taxi bosses who were shot at. I started receiving calls from his relatives threatening to hurt me if something bad happened to him.”
She said she was a housewife with a month-old baby when this incident happened.
She said: “The government abandoned us. We saw in the news the then-president Thabo Mbeki going to lay wreaths at the scene where others perished. We thought that the president was going to visit the families of the survivors but that never happened.”
Lamola said this was the beginning of a healing process for the families who lost their loved ones.
“This is a process that is going to take its time but the offenders are cooperating, they are willing to do things to repay society for what they caused.”
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