A full-scale investigation has been launched into the assassination-style killing of a Bay taxi boss who was shot dead while waiting to pick up his wife at a busy petrol station.
Luvuyo Mbaba, 52, was shot in full view of bystanders at an Engen garage in Bluewater Bay on Friday afternoon, shortly after returning from a company meeting.
An eyewitness revealed that Mbaba, who was associated with Summer Shuttle Services, had just parked his VW Amarok next to a shop entrance when a white Suzuki bakkie with two occupants suddenly pulled up behind him.
“The passenger alighted from the car and opened fire. I think there were about three or five shots fired,” the eyewitness said.
According to another source, Mbaba was returning from a company meeting and was on his way to fetch his wife and mother of his triplet daughters at the garage.
She could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.
“He was regarded as a very kind man by many,” the source said.
Management at the Engen garage in Bluewater Bay declined to comment and referred The Herald to the police.
The Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit in Gqeberha has issued a statement, asking for anyone with information that could help them find and arrest those responsible for the deadly attack to come forward.
The police, meanwhile, confirmed that Mbaba had been at the petrol station to pick up his wife.
“While he was still seated in the vehicle, a VW Amarok, an unknown suspect approached him and fired multiple shots at him,” police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said.
“He passed away on the scene.”
Janse van Rensburg said the motive was unknown at this stage.
Mbaba is the second associate of the company to be murdered in the city in a similar manner in the past four years.
Former director Mzukisi Metthews Goba, 51, was shot dead in Rowallan Park in August 2021.
At the time, police said Goba had asked one of his drivers to meet him at his home.
While he was seated in the taxi with the driver, an unknown man approached them and fired several shots at Goba.
He died at the scene.
On Monday, Janse van Rensburg said Goba’s murder was still under investigation and that no arrests had been made.
According to sources with insight into the matter, Mbaba initially stood to contest elections within the Border Alliance Taxi Association but later stepped down.
One of the sources said further that Mbaba had been part of a group operating in Summerstrand, where there was a lot of infighting over space.
“It became a turf war linked to some criminal networks which is what the police are trying to root out in the industry.”
A Border Alliance Taxi Association member, who declined to be named, said the matter would be discussed at a meeting, with the date still to be announced, and he would then be in a better position to comment.
The Herald established on Monday that Mbaba’s company held a contract with Nelson Mandela University (NMU).
A company search showed that Summer Shuttle Services was located within the university premises at the north campus.
When the reporter arrived at the university office, those present declined to comment and referred all questions to a company representative.
The representative, when contacted, expressed shock at Mbaba’s murder and then cut the call.
NMU spokesperson Zandile Ngwendu confirmed that the university had a student transport contract with Summer Shuttle Services.
“We have not received any formal communication from the company regarding this matter,” Ngwendu said.
Eastern Cape transport and community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha condemned the shooting.
“I can only express my deepest concern for what is taking place because it is the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve as a province, which is to seek and secure peace,” Nqatha said.
“Law enforcement agencies are working very hard but seemingly criminal networks have infiltrated the taxi industry.”
SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) provincial interim committee member Songezo Mpanda said they were shocked to hear about Mbaba’s killing.
“His family must be strong. We are also waiting for police to investigate. We will also conduct our own investigations to find out if there is a third force within the industry.”
Another Gqeberha businessman within the transport industry said the fighting over student transport had been ongoing for years.
“We know of killings linked to this and that is why we have decided to stay out of the [Summerstrand] area,” he said.
On May 1, Lusanda Coboza, 40, and her daughter, Collegiate Girls’ High School pupil Hailie-Jade, 19, were shot dead in their Walmer Township home.
Coboza’s husband, Phumezo Thunywashe, was present at the time but survived the shooting.
Thunywashe is a taxi owner, originally from Cape Town.
It is the state’s case that the motive for the crime may have been due to feuds within the taxi industry.
The matter is currently before court.
The Herald
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