One of those who miraculously survived the mass shooting at Mdlalose Tavern in the Nomzamo settlement in Orlando East, Soweto, is not ready to face his would-be killers.
Nkubeko Bucu, 21, decided not to attend the court proceedings at the Orlando magistrate’s court, about 2km from his home, when five suspects linked to the shooting appeared on Monday.
“I didn’t want to go to court and see those people. I don’t like to see them. My heart will be sore if I see them. They owe us, but I don’t think I will have the nerve to seek answers from them,” he said.
Bucu was among the patrons who were shot when gunmen stormed the Mdlalose Tavern on July 10. He said he was pleased to see progress in the case and the arrests.
Three months after the incident, which left South Africans shocked, he recalled how he was transported to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
“We were five in the back of the bakkie. We were bleeding, [my clothes were] bloody, and you couldn’t even see the colour of the clothes,” he said.
Bucu stayed at the hospital for about 12 days. When he was discharged, he couldn’t walk.
Three bullets hit his right arm, one hit him in the back and another three penetrated his leg. He now uses a walker with wheels to move around and spends most of his time lying in his bed.
“They were hitting us at a close range. I hid behind beer crates. I found myself crawling on my stomach and that’s when I noticed I was shot.
“I was powerless and these people were just shooting,” he said.
He doesn’t remember seeing the attackers.
“I noticed the bullets [cartridges] were not the same. Some were big and some were small. It means there were many. The cartridge that I saw when I woke up on my side [of the tavern] was big,” he said.
He said he sometimes experiences flashbacks when he thinks about the incident. Bucu is still traumatised and has not gone to counselling.
“People were screaming. It was like a movie. People were screaming differently because one person was in pain and one person was being shot.”
He said the suspects shouldn’t be released as it may spark anger in their community.
He said one of the police detectives told him they were looking for more suspects, a development he is watching closely.
Afikha Sonzaba, 23, from KwaBhaca (Mount Frere) in the Eastern Cape, was shot in the abdomen on that night. He had gone to the settlement to drink alcohol. He said he doesn’t stay in the Nomzamo settlement. When he was in the area he ended up going to the tavern to play pool with his friend. While he was playing pool in the early hours of that morning, the gunmen stormed the tavern.
“When I looked back to see what was happening, all I could see were guns and not faces. Shots were being fired at people,” he said.
Sonzaba fell to ground after being wounded. Now, he recalls, with horror, that the people lying near him had been killed.
“Once they were done firing shots it was about 20 minutes before we came up from where we were hiding.
“When we lifted our heads they were gone. I was in shock.
“I could see people lying on the ground, but it didn't occur to me they were dead,” he said.
He couldn’t feel he was shot and even jumped over the tavern’s wall to alert people about the incident. He only realised he was bleeding when someone told him.
Then the pain hit. “When I tried to take off my jersey, I collapsed and the next thing I woke up at Bara [Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital],” he said.
“They died for something they didn’t know,” he said of the 16 patrons who were killed.
“We were attacked for things we didn’t know.”
The tavern has remained closed since the incident.
The five suspects who appeared in court on Monday are provisionally charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating the ends of justice. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, said two of the accused are SA nationals and the other three are from Lesotho. The suspects were remanded and their case was postponed to October 18 for further investigations.
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