Family of Nancefield station shooting victim battling to pay for his burial

While the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and community members of the Holomisa informal settlement in Soweto each shift the blame for the deaths of two people on Monday‚ a family living in extreme poverty are battling to bury their son.

Elizabeth Jojo‚ the mother of one of the victims‚ Mzovukile Msitshana‚ had just buried her ill daughter three months ago and was due to end her mourning period this week.

Since the teenager's tragic death‚ the family of nine which lives in a two-room shack‚ has desperately been seeking financial aid to cover his funeral costs.

Msitshana‚ 17‚ was allegedly shot and killed by a single bullet to his chest by Joseph Koena‚ 44‚ a security guard employed by Metrorail protection services who retaliated when community members barricaded the railway lines at Nancefield station in Soweto on Monday‚ which resulted in many trains being delayed.

The teenager who was his mother’s second eldest child‚ was waiting for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to approve his application in order to pursue an Electrical Engineering course. His family described him as a loving boy who enjoyed playing soccer and fiddled with anything with electric wiring.

His killing sparked the angry community to return to the station and chase after the four security guards that were deployed in Nancefield‚ which resulted in Koena also being killed.

"On Monday the community decided to protest unarmed and took a steel pipe and laid it across the rails in front of the train which was on its way to town. Whilst we were blocking the train‚ four security guards asked us what we were up to and we told them that we are protesting as the government only hears communities when they protest‚" said chairperson of the Holomisa Informal Settlement Phillip Mnomiya.

He was speaking to TimesLIVE inside the teenager’s home on Wednesday.

The Holomisa informal settlement community members had taken to the streets to demand housing‚ warning that they would keep barricading the railway lines and streets until their grievances were heard.

"One of the security guards told the community members that the train had nothing to do with their grievances therefore they should let it pass‚ failing which‚ somebody is going to die. At first I thought he was joking‚ but they took a few steps back and fired warning shots and the community ran away in different direction and so did I.

"However‚ they still chased after us and started shooting directly at us more than 20 times and that is when I heard that they had shot the boy. After that‚ the community members accompanied they boy's mother to the station to find out what did her son do because he was not part of the protest‚ he was merely going to the shop to buy newspapers which is along the same route‚" said Mnomiya.

The chairperson said when the community members confronted the security guards while he was calling emergency medical services for assistance‚ they managed to grab Koena who had run out of bullets and started beating him up until he died.

However‚ Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng denied that their security guards were responsible for the death of the boy as they are never armed.

"This is not true as none of our security guards is issued with a firearm and they are not even allowed to carry in their line of duty. We will allow and cooperate further with investigations on the allegations as an organisation.

Metrorail works with all law enforcement agencies to ensure that visibility of security is improved. Metrorail strongly condemns these brutal killings and acts of vandalism by the protesting community which was about housing and totally unrelated to train operations [which] now [has] lead to service suspension affecting and inconveniencing loyal commuters that rely on this affordable transport system‚" Mofokeng said. Asked if Metrorail will be assisting the family with the burial of teenager Msitshana‚ Mofokeng said there will be no financial compensation for the grieving family who rely on the mother's disability grant.

The community protest has caused Metrorail train services at the Nancefield station to be suspended until further notice. An investigation is also underway to determine who opened fire on the victims. Mofokeng said Metrorail generally has a commuter cultural behaviour across Gauteng of none payment for services which they are addressing through special action in various corridors.

A single train makes 75 trips between Vereeniging and Johannesburg via Midway each day‚ with an average of 1‚600 commuters per trip and approximately 120‚000 a day.

She also said there are number of other issues that have an effect on their revenue collection.

Cable theft‚ illegal electricity connections by squatters‚ building of shacks in the railway reserves or too close to tracks‚ the illegal crossing of railway tracks‚ use of platform ends to access and exit the stations in an attempt not to pay at gates‚ vandalism on train sets and key infrastructure components‚ assault of personnel by commuters‚ torching of trains and assets are some of the issues that affect the agency.