E-hailing driver family yet to receive remains

It has been 16 days since e-hailing driver Siyanda Mthokozisi Mvelase was shot and set alight in his vehicle at Maponya Mall, Soweto, and his family has not received his remains.

His mother has not yet accepted that he is not more. 

The family said they had been contacting the police to get updates on investigations and his remains so they can bury him, but have been told to wait.

The violence against e-hailing drivers which claimed Mvelase's life at the mall in Klipspruit erupted in KwaDabeka in Durban, on Wednesday.

Police on Thursday took in 15 people for questioning in connection with an attack on e-hailing drivers, allegedly by taxi owners and drivers. 

Five taxi marshals were arrested for allegedly giving spot fines of between R3,000 and R6,000 to motorists in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, for using their vehicles to go to the nearby mall.

The group was allegedly forcing everyone to use taxis, not their private vehicles nor e-hailing vehicles.

Commuters in Katlehong, Germiston and other areas in the city were left stranded on Thursday after the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced a halt in taxi operations.

The shutdown comes amid growing tensions between the taxi industry and provincial authorities over the impoundment of vehicles.  

Back in KZN where Mvelase's family is from, the wait for his remains has been dragging and painful.

“Can you imagine the anxiety of waiting for something so important. We were told that the results might be ready by Monday, but when we called the forensics, they told us to wait two more days. I really think they were afraid to tell us to wait a little longer,” said Mvelase's aunt Mpumi Nyoka.

Nyoka said Mvelase's mother was still in disbelief and in limbo because she doesn't know what’s going on.

“It's impossible for his mother to accept that he is no more because she says she hasn’t seen the body or received the DNA confirmation. Reality will only kick in once we receive the results,” she said.

Can you imagine the anxiety of waiting for something so important. We were told that the results might be ready by Monday, but when we called the forensics, they told us to wait two more days. I really think they were afraid to tell us to wait a little longer.

—  Mvelase's aunt Mpumi Nyoka

“In her [Mvelase's mother] mind, Mthokozisi is probably with his friends in Durban and he lost his phone. We are still in denial and his mother said ,if she accepts, then it means her son has truly passed, but there’s nothing that confirms that.”

When the 27-year-old driver was shot and his body burnt to ashes inside his car, he had been working as an e-hailing driver for just three days. He had returned to Gauteng from KwaZulu-Natal just a few weeks earlier, excited to start a new job as a driver after years of struggling to find employment.

Two e-hailing cars were torched on the night on August 13.

Teacher Baratile Sekwalane, 27, who was in a third e-hailing vehicle, was left with a bullet lodged in her left jaw for days while another grazed her eye.

Gauteng police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo said no arrested have been made for the violence at Maponya and investigations were ongoing.

Provincial roads and transport spokesperson Lesiba Mpya, said Maponya Mall was operating smoothly and that the situation was under control.

Santaco Ekurhuleni regional secretary Zweli Mnisi said the decision to suspend services was not taken lightly but was necessary to protect operators from what it described as “selective and unfair law enforcement”.  

“This difficult decision stems from the ongoing impoundment of vehicles, particularly the 10-seater baby buses, which are consistently being targeted for not having operating licenses. These licenses, however, are no longer being issued by the relevant authorities, leaving operators without any legal recourse,” said Mnisi.

He said taxi operators say they are forced to pay fines of up to R5,000 per vehicle to retrieve their impounded taxis, costs they describe as unsustainable and crippling to their businesses.

But Mpya said the enforcement operations were about the restoration of law and order.  

“We are not going to allow illegal operations. Anyone who does not possess a valid operating license, as per the National Land Transport Act, will not be allowed to operate on Gauteng’s roads,” Mypa said. 

Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Thabiso Makgato said y had received several complaints of harassment and intimidation against the marshals, aged between 26 and 30, and were expected to appear in court soon.

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