Sobantu e-hailing driver shot 12 times
Shange said the family has been left with many unanswered questions about why he was killed in such a brutal manner.
Mystery surrounds the hit-style killing of e-hailing driver Nkululeko Luthuli (33), who was shot 12 times in his vehicle on Wednesday night, a short distance from his home.
His siblings said they cannot understand why he was targeted, describing him as a quiet man who had recently started working as an e-hailing driver in an effort to earn a living.
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Dudu Luthuli Shange and Nomcebo Luthuli Ndlovu said they rushed home from different parts of the city after friends informed them that their brother may have been shot.
They arrived to find an active crime scene just around the corner from his home. The incident happened at around 7.30pm on Wednesday.
Shange said the most traumatic moment was seeing her brother’s body being removed from the bullet-ridden vehicle.
I received an SMS from one of my friends telling me that I needed to check because they had heard that my brother had been shot. I started contacting my other siblings and friends, and then my sister and I came here. It looked like he was trying to escape what was happening to him.
“It looked like he was just sitting in the car, but we saw how badly he was injured when they took him out of the vehicle. We just saw everything,” said Shange.
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Shange said the family has been left with many unanswered questions about why he was killed in such a brutal manner. Luthuli was the father of a three-year-old.
“We have not even informed our mother yet because she is not well. My brother only started working as an e-hailing driver two months ago.
“He was a very quiet person, always laughing and happy. He was like every other normal guy,” said Shange.
She said she found it unusual that about a month ago, her brother had started posting several photographs of himself on social media, prompting her to save the images.
He had just started posting his pictures on his Facebook account and I thought to myself, ‘Is he going to die or something?’ It was very strange, so I saved them. My other sister said he had messaged her three hearts, and after receiving the message she felt something was not right.
“Now it makes sense that something was going to happen,” said Shange.
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Ndlovu said her brother regularly called or messaged his siblings, adding that they had last spoken on Wednesday afternoon.
“He called me on Wednesday morning and then messaged me in the afternoon. That was the last time we spoke. He said he was just checking up on me.
“We are very disturbed because he was robbed of his life. He was the father of a young child,” said Ndlovu.
Mountain Rise SAPS spokesperson Warrant Officer Panchael Singh said a murder case is being investigated.
No suspects have been arrested in connection with the matter. Fourteen spent 9mm cartridges were found on the road.
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“A 72-hour activation plan has been implemented to apprehend the suspects,” said Singh.
