Another Peddie taxi operator shot dead
Employers of slain driver now live in fear after losing loved ones
AFAMILY in Peddie is in shock following the killing of their employee, a taxi operator, over the weekend.
The family is already mourning the death of their father Mzwandile Gwejela, 64, who was gunned down in the small town in June, and his son Nkululeko Gwejela, 40, who was killed in March.
The slayings are believed to be part of ongoing taxi violence.
No one has been arrested connection with the murders.
The Gwejela’s taxi operator Vuyani Mpande was shot and killed on Saturday en route to report for duty at the Peddie taxi rank.
Police spokeswoman Captain Mali Govender said Mpande was ambushed while driving a white Quantum in Peddie Extension.
He was shot a number of times before being dragged out of the vehicle and left to die on the side of the road. Govender said the assailant or assailants then drove away with Mpande’s taxi.
“The taxi was later recovered in Chungwa in the Ngqolowa location by members of the King William’s Town tracing team. The vehicle was found locked and parked next in to the road.
“The suspects are still at large,” Govender said.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday Tabisa Gwejela said the family was living in fear.
Her father was shot by a lone gunman on June 5 while at a driving school next to the Ngqushwa Traffic Department. He died on the spot.
On the same morning a taxi operator unrelated to the family’s business was shot and killed nearby.
Tabisa has inherited the business but said she will discontinue with it. “I don’t know what is going to happen to me. We are going to leave the taxi industry because it is not safe,” she said.
In a separate incident in Peddie on Wednesday morning an elderly taxi operator was gunned down while returning from dropping off school pupils in Durban location.
“The victim, in his 60s, was shot and fatally wounded after he dropped off children at a nearby school. The motive for the killing is unknown and will be investigated. No arrests have been made yet,” Govender said.
She urged anyone with information on the incidents to contact their nearest police station or the crime stop number on 08600 10111. “All information will be treated as confidential and the caller has a choice to remain anonymous,” she added. —