TAXI LEADER GUNNED DOWN OUTSIDE HOME
SA football world also in shock as victim was also co-founder of Tornado FC
An ambush-style slaying of well-known Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata) boss and former Tornado Football club chairperson Lindela “Message” Mba, 60, has shocked the province.
Mba was gunned down on Wednesday evening outside his home, adding to the grim death toll in the four-year taxi war in East London and Mthatha.
The high-profile killing is being investigated by the Eastern Cape organised crime unit.
Mba’s death brings the number of Bata leaders killed to 10, said Mba's distraught brotherin-law, Monwabisi Payi.
He claimed all 10 died on the instruction of one taxi kingpin, whom he refused to name.
The slaying of the father of four comes three months after Mba’s friend, Tornado FC owner Siphiwo “Mawawa” Nyobo, was shot dead on March 2 outside North End stadium.
Speaking at Mba's NU 9 home in Mdantsane on Thursday, Payi complained: “The police know this person but they are not arresting him and we don't know why.”
Police spokesperson Captain Nkosikho Mzuku denied Payi’s claim.
Speaking softly with bloodshot eyes, Payi said: “I am devastated, I am completely heartbroken. We will speak to the media in detail once all the family members, including his children, are here.”
Mba's wife, Ntombentsha Mba, 59, was too distraught to speak to the media.
She was wrapped in black mourning clothes and was confined to her room, sitting on a mattress on the floor surrounded by five women.
Fifteen people had converged on the home to offer support and condolences.
Payi ruled out any suggestion that the killing was linked to football, saying his brother-inlaw cut ties with Tornado five years ago.
Payi said Mba was born in Centane and moved to East London to work at Raylite battery factory in the 1970s before resigning and going into business. He said Mba established Tornado FC in 1982 and ventured into the taxi business at the same time.
The news of his death shook the Tornado camp, who were in Cape Town for the crucial National First Division play-offs against Hungry Lions FC from Northern Cape.
They lost 2-1.
Team manager Simphiwe Magongo said the death was a double blow for the club, which was still recovering from the loss of Nyobo.
“Message was like a father to us after losing Mawawa. “It's a huge loss.”
There were also shock waves across the larger football fraternity. Premier Soccer League spokesperson Luxolo September said: “I’m very sad, one for his life and also about the fact that he passes on and people have not necessarily said thank you to him.”
September said Mba was the first Tornado club chair to see the outfit promoted to the National First Division.
It was later relegated. Mdantsane and East London Taxi Association (Meta) chair Zukile Mrubata said Mba had been a member of the association’s mother body, Bata, since 1985.
Captain Mzuku was asked if police suspected that the slaying was a hit.
He said: “It is not our role to speculate on anything as our actions, decisions and statements will be guided by the investigation.”
He said Mba died on arrival in hospital from bullet wounds.
Anyone with information is requested to contact the investigating officer, Sergeant Andile Mpitimpiti of the provincial organised crime unit on 079-183-1595.
The rivalry between Meta and the Mdantsane East London and District Taxi Association (Melta) intensified into a full-blown war after a disgruntled group of 200 broke ranks with Melta and joined Meta in 2016.
The group, led by since-slain Mxolisi Sontshantsha, disputed the executive committee elections held by Melta. After failing on three occasions to convince the East London high court to declare the elections null and void, the group joined Meta.
The Dispatch reported in 2017 that 10 taxi operators were killed in Buffalo City Metro and that at the heart of the violence was competition over taxi routes.
In May last year transport and safety MEC Weziwe Tikana told the Dispatch that 60 people had been killed in related incidents in Mthatha since March 2016. She said police had opened 127 case dockets in Mthatha relating to the violence.
Not our role to speculate on anything as our actions will be guided by the investigation
Captain Nkosikho Mzuku
SAPS spokesperson
Taxi executives who do not know their boundaries are troublemakers who cause conflict which results in taxi violence.
This is according to Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata) national chairperson Mthuthuzeli Madwarha.
He was addressing more than 400 Eastern Cape taxi owners affiliated to Bata in Ginsberg on Thursday.
Addressing the newly elected taxi association leaders from 30 associations at their induction, Madwarha also blamed taxi violence on not being subsidised by government.
This comes as the taxi industry has been shaken by the killing of Lindela “Message” Mba, a regional secretary of the association who was gunned down outside his Mdantsane home on Wednesday evening.
“Everyone wants to be a leader but here during the induction, among all our stakeholders, this is where the roles are clearly outlined so that each executive member can know their role and stick to it.
“When one steps out of their role and infringes on another, that is when the conflict and violence usually starts,” he said.
So what would end the bloodshed in the taxi industry?
“If the industry could get a subsidy like the buses are getting things could be much different. Now fights are over trivial things like routes due to the frustrations of no money,” said Madwarha.