Taxi driver killed execution-style

A taxi driver was shot and killed and a passanger critically injured in what appeared to be an extreme road rage incident in Protea Glen, Soweto. Picture: Dumisani Dube

A taxi driver was shot and killed and a passanger critically injured in what appeared to be an extreme road rage incident in Protea Glen, Soweto. Picture: Dumisani Dube

Published Jun 20, 2011

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A taxi driver was killed execution-style by a security guard on Saturday evening in what appears to be an incident of extreme road rage.

Zakhele Tshabalala, 39, had been just off Mdlalose Street in Protea Glen, Soweto, when he allegedly cut off a security van.

The van came to an abrupt halt, its driver climbed out and walked up to the driver’s side window of the Toyota Quantum.

Then he allegedly took out his pistol and shot Tshabalala in the chest and head, as well as a man on the passenger side. Four shots later, the street had come to a standstill, with eyewitnesses saying the security guard had fled the scene in his van.

Tshabalala died instantly. His passenger was in a critical condition in hospital yesterday.

It was a sombre day at the Tshabalala household in Jabulani, Soweto, as friends and family arrived to support and comfort Tshabalala’s sister Gugu and his mother.

“I’m still in shock,” said Gugu, who told The Star her brother, who had been living in the house with them, had been ferrying pupils from Florida schools to Jabulani.

“He had no enemies. I don’t know why this would happen,” she said.

Tshabalala’s mother was too distraught to speak yesterday.

The taxi driver also leaves behind a brother and a four-year-old daughter.

“We are still trying to determine the circumstances that led up to the death,” said Moroka cluster police spokesman Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.

While he would not confirm if the incident had been purely one of road rage, Makhubela said it was unlikely that it had been a hit job.

“We are still looking. No one has been arrested,” he added.

A bystander, who did not wish to be identified, said the van belonged to Mokoteledi Security, a Protea Glen-based security company that patrolled in the area.

Mokoteledi security does not appear to be registered under the Private Security Regulatory Authority and no contact numbers for the company have been recorded with the authority. – The Star

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