Daughter relives death of taxi boss father in hail of bullets

Callous murderers yet to be arrested

The daughter of a slain Tembisa taxi boss Phillip Mabena, has told of her father’s tragic death at his home in a hail of bullets fired by suspected assassins.

Mabena, 69, a taxi owner in Welamlambo section in Tembisa, was shot execution style in his driveway by unknown gunmen on Wednesday morning as he prepared to leave.

His only daughter Nelisiwe, 25, told Sowetan yesterday of her horror of finding her father slumped in his car after a series of gunshots had rang out at their home.

Minutes after the gunshots, Nelisiwe ran outside to find her father’s body riddled with bullets.

Nelisiwe said on that day her father woke up an hour earlier to open the gate for taxi drivers and everything seemed normal.

“I heard gunshots but I could not get out because I feared that I would be shot. When it went quiet, I went outside and saw my father in his car.

“He lay with his head to the passenger seat.

“He was still breathing and his eyes were closed, I did not talk to him and he did not say anything. He was shot about 10 times,” she recalled.

“The engine was running, I switched it off – I screamed for help and people came.”

She said paramedics arrived but there was nothing they could do to save his life.

Police spokesman captain Manyaza Ralidzhivha said they were investigating a case of murder and no arrests have been made yet.

Ralidzhivha said the motive for the killing was unknown.

Mabena was a member of

‘ ‘ I did not talk to him and he did not say anything

Kempton Park Taxi Association. The association’s Muziwenkosi Mhlongo said Mabena was the fourth member to be shot and killed in the past two months.

He said their transport manager, a deputy treasurer and a taxi patrol officer were also gunned down in December.

“We do not know what is happening. We cannot say it is a taxi feud because we do not know of any quarrel that he had with anyone,” Mhlongo said.

“He was a good person who treated his drivers like his own children.

“We are shocked,” he said.

/ THULANI MBELE Muziwenkosi Mhlongo, a member of the Kempton Park Taxi Association, says he could not understand why Phillip Mabena was gunned down outside his house on Wednesday.