The daughter of musician Manqoba Ntombela – who was murdered over the weekend – says her dad had been fearful for his life for some time, and would tell his family he felt as if he was being followed.
On Friday, however, his fears came true – a gunman shot Ntombela multiple times as he sat in his car outside his home just after closing his spaza shop. He died on his way to hospital.
Bucie told Sowetan of the moment she was told of the sad news. "My sister called me around 7pm saying, 'Bucie, Bucie wake up ... and hurry'. I didn't understand what she was saying but she was frantic. I remember her finally saying, 'they shot him', and I immediately came running.
"When I arrived, two boys were already taking him to hospital and we followed behind and on the way, we saw an ambulance which we stopped for them to help us, but when they took a look at him, they told us there was nothing they could do; it was too late," she said.
Ntombela was the founder and lead singer of the group Woza Afrika, known for their hit Istokvel.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo said no one has been arrested yet for Ntombela's murder and that the motive was not known.
However, Bucie believes her father's death had something to do with the killings of spaza shop owners in the area that everyone believed had ended over a year ago.
Ntombela belonged to Ratanda Spaza Shop Forum, which was responsible for driving foreign nationals out of the area so that locals could run those businesses themselves. That resulted in spaza shops owners being murdered last year.
Bucie said when killings erupted in Ratanda, Heidelberg, her father closed his business and fled to KwaZulu-Natal.
"When he came back we thought everything had died down and that we could continue living in peace, go about our daily lives ... but we were wrong."
Bayanda Radebe, who used to be chairperson of the Ratanda Spaza Shop Forum, said he had also thought the killings had died down as nothing had happened for a year. However, with the death of Ntombela, he has been getting messages from people urging him to leave the area.
"They are all asking me to leave before something happens to me but where do I go? Surely where I run to they will get me if truly they want to get to me. I am not going anywhere, I have a family, my life is here," Radebe said.
However, not every spaza shop owner is scared.
Mzwakhe Khumalo said he was not concerned about his safety as he was not involved in the forum.
"I was never part of the forum and it seemed as if the people who were being attacked or targeted were part of it.
"I have never received threats or have been concerned with whether or not I was going to be killed. I don't have that fear but obviously I am concerned about the safety of those that were part of it [forum], we can only hope that something is done," Khumalo said.
A neighbour who didn't want to be named said they heard the gunshots but were too scared to come out and assist.
"I never thought that it would Mr Ntombela who was the victim of the shooting. When I heard them (gunshots), they were too fast to count but they were very loud. I didn't know what to do and was so scared to go outside. I just called the police," she said.
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