Zhivago star Omar Sharif dies
BRANDED: A Gcaba Brothers taxi at the Brook Street, Durban, taxi rank EGYPTIAN-born actor Omar Sharif, who starred in Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, died on Friday aged 83, his agent said.
“He died of a heart attack in Cairo,” Steve Kenis said. He had been in a hospital for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, one of Sharif’s close friends, said the funeral might take place today. “His psychological condition had deteriorated — he had stopped eating and was not drinking,” he said.
Sharif began acting in the ’50s and was propelled to stardom playing an Arab chief enlisted by Peter O’Toole’s TE Lawrence in the World War 1 drama Lawrence of Arabia , for which he received an Oscar nomination.
An even bigger role followed as the eponymous hero in David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago, the adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s novel of the Russian Revolution. Known for his raffish good looks, Sharif starred in many more films and TV productions, and later became well known for playing bridge and owning racehorses. — AFP
OMAR SHARIF THE Gcaba brothers are not just President Jacob Zuma’s relatives — they also have a public transport empire that is unrivalled in the lucrative long-distance South African minibus taxi industry.
They were notorious before Zuma became president. And their detractors say Zuma’s presidency has boosted their burgeoning taxi business.
They came to public attention around 1988, when they came to own their iconic minibus taxi — a “Zola Budd” with registration number NUZ 4000.
Twenty-seven years later, their fleet — distinguished by the “Gcaba Brothers” logo — is estimated to number hundreds of taxis. They saturate the long-distance taxi market and their imprint can be seen on routes throughout the country.
The Gcabas have gained a reputation as feared taxi lords who wield enormous influence.
The transport empire is led by Mandla Gcaba, a towering, largerthan-life businessman who is a 40% shareholder in Tansnat Africa, the company that operates the troubled Durban municipal bus service.
The brothers’ father, Simon Gcaba, was shot dead in 1996, shaking the taxi industry to its foundations.
Simon was an executive committee member of the Durban and District Taxi Association and his protégé, Bernard “Big Ben” Ntuli — a feared taxi boss and president of the association — was the prime suspect. He went into hiding and later died of cerebral malaria, after police had issued a R250 000 reward for his arrest over murders related to taxi violence.
Ntuli was the father of DA member of the provincial legislature and youth leader Mbali Ntuli, who inherited the family fleet.
In 1997, Mandla’s eldest brother, Moses, his partner in a trucking business, was shot dead. The following year, another brother, Frank, died in a car accident.
Mandla is no longer directly involved in the taxi industry but still wields great influence; younger brother Mfundo runs the operations.
The Gcabas have a good relationship with S’bu Mpisane, the Durban metro cop-turnedmillionaire married to socialite Shawn. Mpisane disappeared just before he was to give evidence against the Gcaba brothers in a case involving three people shot dead outside the High Court in Durban more than a decade ago.
No one has been able to explain Mpisane’s reappearance as a wealthy social player. —