A routine pickup for an e-hailing taxi driver ended in a brutal murder on Wednesday night — leaving a father distraught as he fought the realisation that the man crouching over his steering wheel, fatally shot and bleeding, was his son.
In that moment, all the hopes and dreams the close-knit family had carried for Garrison Snayers, an aspirant police officer and dedicated father to two young children, were crushed.
Snayers, 30, was shot while still seated in his vehicle in Madala Street, New Brighton, on Wednesday evening, shortly after completing a drop-off as a taxi driver.
He had picked up a passenger in Mount Pleasant, and at about 5.30pm, shortly after dropping him off in New Brighton, was shot multiple times.
This is one of several incidents in recent weeks where e-hailing taxi and online shopping delivery vehicles have been targeted by criminals, leaving drivers questioning their own safety, as well as the safety of their passengers.
Is the job really worth it, they want to know.
Speaking at his Sidwell home on Thursday, and still battling to come to terms with his loss, Garrison’s father, Garreth, 53, fought back tears as he recalled the events of Wednesday night.
“A family member who is also a e-hailing driver phoned us at about 6pm to say that a driver was shot in New Brighton, and that it might be Garrison,” he said.
“The initial report said he was taken to hospital, but I phoned a friend that works for ambulance services and he told me I needed to go to the scene in Madala Street.
“He didn’t want to tell me anything else, he just told me to go there.
“And when I got on the scene,” Garreth’s voice trailed off as he choked back tears and tried to compose himself.
“I just broke down. It was tragic. The man in that car was not my son any more.”
According to police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg, officers had responded to the scene in Madala Street at about 5.42pm after receiving a complaint about a shooting in the area.
Upon arriving at the scene the police found a blue Suzuki Celerio parked in the street, she said.
“Snayers was found seated in the vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds.
“The motive for the murder, as well as the suspect, is unknown at this stage,” Janse van Rensburg said.
Garrison leaves behind his wife, Farren, and their children Gabby, 7, and Mika, 4.
“He did this job to provide for his family, but he wanted to get out of the e-hailing business.
“He was applying to join the police this year and he was so confident he would get the job,” Garreth said.
This is not the first tragedy to befall the family.
Ten years ago, Garreth’s other son, Gilles, was shot dead outside the Famhealth Medical Centre in Springbok Street, Gelvandale.
Garrison would, meanwhile, be remembered for his sense of humour and enthusiasm in everything that he did.
“He phoned me just yesterday [Wednesday] morning,” his older sister, Keshia, 33, said.
“He was so excited. Not for any specific reason, just excited for the day and we had such a fun chat.
“But that was Garrison. He was always ready with a joke and he never stayed angry with anyone.
“One moment he would be cross with you and the next he would come back and crack jokes and all was forgiven.”
His father said he regularly drove past Greenacres where the e-hailing drivers waited for calls, and he would often see a group of Garrison’s fellow drivers standing by his car chatting and laughing.
“He was popular among his colleagues. So many of them came to the police station after he was shot.
“Partly for their own safety, but also to find out what had happened,” Garreth said.
He said funeral arrangements had not yet been finalised and that they were still waiting for his body to be released from the mortuary.
But the safety fears of taxi drivers is nothing new.
More incidents of drivers being targeted by hijackers and robbers were being reported daily in Nelson Mandela Bay.
A 28-year-old operator for Bolt said he was held at gunpoint in New Brighton late last year when his so-called passenger turned out to be a robber.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said the gunman was someone he had picked up.
“I showed up at the pickup point and the guy got in. As soon as I wanted to start driving he pulled up my handbrake and pointed a gun at me and took all my stuff.”
He said all safety measures on e-hailing services were aimed at the safety of passengers, but he felt there were allegedly no protocols in place to protect the drivers.
“Each driver has a profile uploaded onto the system, telling potential passengers everything about us. But we have no way of knowing who we are picking up.
“There has to be a better way of screening passengers too. Fingerprints? A paid profile? I don’t know, but there must be a way of protecting us too,” he said.
A 32-year-old driver, for Uber, said a refusal to pick someone up, even if they felt unsafe, reflected badly on their ratings.
“Drivers get a rating, and if you refuse to pick people up, your rating drops. The lower your rating, the less likely people are to use your service.
“So you either risk your reputation as a driver, or you risk your life. And work is scarce out there.
“You have to do what it takes to make a living,” he said.
According to Garrison’s family, he was operating as an e-hailing driver for Uber, however Uber said its incident response team investigated the matter and concluded the incident was not related to their service.
They did, however, pass on their condolences to the family.
“The safety of our drivers and driver partners is a top priority and we have a number of safety features available such as access to an in-app emergency button and 24/7 in-app support.
“Our incident response team is available 24/7 to respond to any reported incidents, and our law enforcement relations team is on call to work with police at any time to respond to urgent needs.
“We encourage driver-partners and riders to report any incidents of intimidation to Uber and to the police,” Uber said in a statement.
On February 14, an e-hailing driver was held at gunpoint and hijacked, allegedly by one of his passengers after picking two people up in Walmer Boulevard.
He had been en route to Greenacres when one of the passengers allegedly pointed a firearm at him and instructed him to drive towards Sunridge Park.
There the complainant was tied up and placed in the back of the Datsun Go he had been driving.
The suspects then drove to Coega, where the driver was dropped off.
In an earlier incident, on February 4, another driver parked his Suzuki Celerio in Mahambehlala Street, Kwazakele, when a suspect approached the car and tried to grab his keys out of the ignition.
A scuffle ensued and a second suspect opened the passenger side door and used a stun gun on the driver, forcing him out of the vehicle.
The driver fled on foot and the suspects allegedly drove off in his vehicle.
The police have meanwhile urged all e-hailing taxi drivers to be alert at all times.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said these drivers were vulnerable and needed to take note of their surroundings while waiting for passengers.
Doors and windows needed to remained locked and the engine should be kept running where possible, Naidu said.
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