'We don't know if we will survive when we start a trip': Soweto e-hailing driver

E-hailing drivers have been operating outside the Maponya Mall precinct in a vain attempt to minimise tensions with the minibus taxi industry.

On Wednesday night, four men shot dead a driver and wounded another. A passer-by also sustained a gunshot wound. The murdered driver was inside his car when it was torched.

It is a hostile environment in Soweto, e-hailing driver Lesego Pooe told TimesLIVE.

“We are held hostage,” he said. “We are struggling to work.”

At the mall, he said, there was a pickup and drop-off point for e-hailing operators, but they were evicted from there.

“Now we pick up and drop outside the mall, but still they follow us outside. The moment you get inside your vehicle and start the trips, you don’t know if you will survive.”

An estimated 300 community members gathered outside the Maponya Mall on Thursday morning. One of the community leaders, Keabetswi Madiba, said they were there to show support to the family of the murdered e-hailing driver and to voice their grievances against mall management.

“A life was lost, and in a gruesome manner,” he said. “We stand with the family against the injustice that has happened.

“The most heartbreaking thing was seeing a family having to collect remains by sweeping them up. That is injustice. So as a community, we are fighting for justice and fighting for the safety of patrons.”

Bullets from high-calibre rifles were flying during Wednesday's attack, Madiba said.

“People were shot at in front of the community and not just shots, cars were burnt. It is alleged that there were people who had petrol bombs. We are trying to make the mall accountable for what's happening because, at the end of the day, it's their patrons.

“We've been complaining about the security of Maponya Mall and the unfortunate part is that we are not heard,” he said.

Madiba said they want to be at the mall for seven days to support the family with their burial rituals. “We want to be given the opportunity to be in mourning and grieve with the family for seven days.”