Durban — A Montclair man told of how he saw his mother die in front of his eyes after being shot outside their Boniface home, south of Durban, on Monday.
Minibus taxi owner Joyce “Zora” Marwanqane, 63, was shot by unknown gunmen when she arrived home in an e-hailing taxi. Marwanqane was getting off the vehicle when she was shot. She fell backwards into the vehicle.
Her son, Phikolomzi Marwanqane, who was inside the house when the incident happened, said it is still surreal as he can still hear the sounds of the gunshots that killed his mother.
“I was in the kitchen when I saw a blue car passing by the house. Immediately after I heard the first gunshot. While I was going out of the house to see what was happening, a second gunshot went off. I went out the gate only to see the blue car still there with the driver’s door wide open,” said Phikolomzi.
When he asked the driver what was happening, the driver then pointed at the back seat. Phikolomzi saw his mother laying on the seat in a pool of blood.
“She was still breathing and after a short while she succumbed to her injuries. There was a gunshot wound on her chest and the other at the back of her head. I am still in shock and angry at how they had to kill her right in front of the house,” said Phikolomzi.
Marwanqane was both a member of a local taxi association and a long distance association.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said the motive of the killing is unknown at this stage although taxi-related violence could not be ruled out. Netshiunda said the Provincial Taxi Violence Task Team has been roped in to investigate the murder. Netshiunda said the suspects fled the scene in a white Toyota Corolla Quest with registration number ND 698-912 and a manhunt for the suspects is underway.
“The woman who is a taxi owner was alighting from an e-hailing vehicle next to her home when she was allegedly approached by two suspects who fired shots at her. She fell back into the vehicle and was declared dead at the scene. The driver of the e-hailing vehicle was not injured,” said Colonel Netshiunda.
Montclair SAPS are investigating a case of murder.
According to ALS Paramedics’ Garrith Jamieson, who were the first to attend to the scene, they found a woman lying in the back of the car with her legs outside.
One of the neighbours, Angel Ngcobo, said they have lost a caring member of their community who would go out of their way to make sure that others are taken care of.
“As painful as the way they took her life, the mortuary guys had to traumatise us even further by coming very late to take her body. The incident happened immediately after 3:30pm and they only arrived after 12 midnight. We had to stay with the body all these hours just because of how insensitive or careless the mortuary guys are. Even when they arrived they were just pulling and dropping her like an object in full view of the community and her family,” said Ngcobo.
She said they hoped the police would act swiftly in catching the perpetrators.
Marwanqane is survived by her husband, children and grandchildren.
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Daily News