Siyanda Mthokozisi Mvelase, 27, the e-hailing driver who was killed in Soweto on Wednesday night, had just started working on Monday. Two days later, he met his untimely death.
His aunt, Zanele Kuzwayo, described him as a sweet, young man who was eager to work and help his mother back home in KwaZulu-Natal.
TimesLIVE reported on Wednesday that police confirmed that one person died and two others were injured when e-hailing vehicles were attacked at Maponya Mall in Soweto.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said an e-hailing driver was shot and his vehicle torched while another driver and a passer-by were wounded
When Mvelase moved to Johannesburg two weeks ago, he settled in Nancefield hostel in Soweto.
According to his aunt, he struggled to secure a permanent job after he completed his matric, but was always eager to work.
“He has been trying to make a living for himself. Trying to provide for himself and his mother. He is an only child,” she said.
He came to Johannesburg and got a job as an e-hailing driver.
Kuzwayo said the family had many questions about their loved one's death, and complained about the authorities’ lack of communication.
“We just want them to communicate with us and tell us what is going on, what transpired last night, [Wednesday], because they are telling us they don’t want to speculate. They are going to communicate with us, that’s what they are saying,” she said.
She said Mvelase wanted to be a police officer , but that didn't work out. He would travel to Gauteng when he saw advertisements for posts, stay with his aunt and apply.
“It never really materialised, and that’s why he was where he was today,” she said.
She added he was a respectful child who was never involved in a fight, always smiling and only wanted to help his mother.
On Thursday, tensions were high in Soweto as angry community members barricaded streets with burning tyres and rocks, vowing that Maponya Mall would not operate until a proper resolution is reached on e-hailing vehicles operating at the mall.
Gauteng road and transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela addressed the angry protesters outside the mall after engaging with stakeholders, which included the taxi industry and e-hailers in a meeting held behind closed doors.
However, after the meeting that ran for almost three hours , a disappointed Diale-Tlabela told the media they were informed that they had met a group that was not recognised as the leadership of the e-hailing industry.
“You saw us believing that we were meeting leaders of the industry. Both the taxi industry as well as the e-hailers, and unfortunately for us, after the meeting, we had to come and address the people outside, and the e-hailers themselves are disputing that the leadership that we are meeting were representing them. So it means we must go back to the drawing board,” she said.
She said there are allegations and counter-allegations on this matter, including internal conflicts in the e-hailing sector.
In 2023, e-hailing vehicles were burnt and stoned at Maponya Mall and Protea Glen.
Diale-Tlabela said since 2011 the e-hailing services have been disrupting the long-standing taxi industry. She said there was a need to modernise and make sure transport service providers coexist.
Keabetsoe Malebo, who represented the community and e-hailing drivers, demanded that the issues be addressed with the management of the mall. He sent condolences to the bereaved families.
“We are saying as a community that this problem does not start now; it started in 2023. It was supposed to be addressed in 2023 when cars were torched in the mall. So now we are addressing the community today because somebody has died in the car that was torched,” he said.
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