'This country needs people like him': Slain Lusitano owner took a risk in tough neighbourhood
The owner of the Lusitano restaurant‚ who was gunned down in his restaurant in the south of Johannesburg this week‚ was brave to have established a business in what some of his peers labelled a drug-prone area.
"Most people would look at the area and say they wouldn't even go there. [Roberto da Silva] was very brave to go into that area and start trading like that. He picked up the baton from someone else who [had given up on it]‚" said his friend‚ who asked to remain anonymous.
"Those people who had it before gave up‚ but he took on the challenge and went for it. For me‚ that's the saddest part. This country needs people like him‚ but that's the reward we gave him‚" the friend said.
He said Da Silva was dedicated to his business.
"He was at work every single day. He uplifted that restaurant from where it was to where it is today. They invested quite a bit in it. He uplifted the area on top of it.
"It wasn't a fancy restaurant‚ it was good food‚ home-cooked meals. We went there because of him."
Da Silva was described by his friend as a humble‚ hardworking man who loved his family unconditionally.
"I tell you‚ Robbie was a very funny guy‚ you would talk and he would come up with something that would make it funny. He was a humble oke. His wife and kids were everything to him‚" said former business partner Josè Lucas.
Lucas and Da Silva were in partnership in a bakery for over eight years. Da Silva decided to go on his own‚ and bought Lusitano in 2017 from the former owners‚ who emigrated.
Lucas said Da Silva loved music and sports. His favourite boxer was Floyd Mayweather. Da Silva also supported the English soccer team Arsenal.
"The radio would come on and a song would come on‚ I'm talking golden oldies‚ and this oke would sing. He loved 'Red‚ Red Wine' from UB40 and 'Eye Of The Tiger [by Survivor]'."
"We used to fight about Mayweather and I used to tell him that guy is crap‚" Lucas said.
Another friend and a regular at the restaurant‚ Miguel Dorego‚ described Da Silva as a gentle-natured person who trusted people around him.
"They really tried to get the restaurant off the ground. Here is a guy who was trying and hoped that everything will come right. The sad part is that he has a wife and young children‚" said Dorego.
Da Silva was killed on Wednesday.
Police spokesperson Captain Jeff Phora said Da Silva was opening the restaurant at around 9:30am when he was overpowered by an armed suspect. Holding him at gunpoint‚ the robber had then helped himself to an undisclosed amount of cash. Phora said there was a tussle as the suspect was leaving‚ and Da Silva was shot in the head. The suspect then fled.