He was not a violent man‚ says family of slain taxi driver

Sbongakonke Dlomo last spoke to his cousin Mzamo Dlomo on Friday night as he was preparing to leave to attend a funeral in KwaZulu-Natal.

Following their arrival at their home in Ebony Park after work on Friday‚ Mzamo called one of his friends who told him that he would only be leaving for the funeral at midnight. However Mzamo wanted to leave earlier.

He then called the driver of a Quantum mini bus that was ferrying taxi drivers to the Matimatolo funeral‚ and it was confirmed that there was space for him.

Mzamo immediately prepared to take a bath but the driver‚ whose name is known to TimesLIVE‚ arrived to pick him up for the journey before he could do so.

Mzamo dropped everything and immediately boarded the taxi and this was the last time he spoke to his cousin Sbongakonke.

Both Mzamo‚ 34‚ and the driver of the Quantum were killed on their way back from the funeral.

The taxi ferrying mostly taxi drivers from the funeral in KwaZulu-Natal was ambushed by gunmen along the R74 road between Colenso and Weenen on Saturday night. Eleven people died when the vehicle was flung with live ammunition. Another died later in hospital. A total of 10 of those killed were taxi drivers from Ivory Park.

On Sunday night‚ Sbongakonke received a call from his “homeboys” in Greytown but they were reluctant to give him full details of what had happened.

“One of the guys from back home told me about the death of the guy who was driving the taxi but nothing about Mzamo. I then called my cousin - about six times - and his phone was ringing but no one answered. It was then that I realised something was not right. I then called other guys and they confirmed my fear that he had died‚” Sbongakonke said.

Sbongakonke and his cousin had lived together since the beginning of July.

The last time‚ Sbongakonke spoke to his cousin was on Friday night when he informed him that he had not cooked. Mzamo told him he was not prepared to eat bread and would eat during the journey.

“He was not a talkative man. He was friendly. My relationship with him was good. He was a good man. Everyday when he left for work he would give me some cash and say ‘this is for your cigarettes’. My dad was with me here yesterday. He left for KZN today. He was also not okay. The whole family is hurt. My cousin was a good man‚” Sbongakonke said.

He added: “He was a brother and a friend to me. I will miss him for his sense of humour. He never got upset. If he would see that you are not getting along‚ he would simply pull back just to avoid the fight. He would avoid conflict by all means.

"He had a licensed firearm but you would not tell. You would never see him showing it to anyone…He was not a violent man‚ I am still asking myself why he was killed. We have no clue. We can’t tell whether they were aiming at him or somebody else who was in the taxi.”

Mzamo is survived by his wife and three children – two boys and a girl. He worked as a rank manager.

The killing sent shock waves across the nation. National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole activated specialised units to track down and arrest the gunmen‚ giving them a deadline of 72 hours to do so.

The Ivory Park Taxi Association on Monday said it was just baffled by the killing as it had no disputes with any other association over routes.