SMILE SHOOTING: TAXIMAN BURIED, HONOURED

MBABANE – The taximan who was shot during an armed robbery at Smile Supermarket last Thursday was yesterday laid to rest and honoured by the police service.

Bongani Silwane Maseko was attempting to disarm and apprehend one of the robbers when he got shot. He died while undergoing treatment in hospital. His funeral service was held at his home at Ekukhanyeni, where officers from the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and his colleagues, who are also taximen, were in attendance. There were also mourners wearing blue gowns, normally worn by those from the Zion Church.

Colleagues

The late Maseko’s friends and colleagues were singing and dancing while carrying his coffin. They later placed it on the ground and continued to dance around it. The police officers who attended the funeral were also in the morning given a chance to carry Maseko’s coffin, heading to the graveyard. The police actually took over carrying the coffin from the late taximan’s colleagues, who had carried it from his home until halfway to the graveyard. It was gathered that the police appreciated Maseko for his bravery in his attempt to foil the robbers’ plan. The robbery, which involved four armed men, took place last Thursday, between 6:30am and 7am, where they were alleged to have walked away with coins amounting between E6 000 and E7 000. Smile Supermarket is situated along Betfusile Street. It is worth mentioning that shops like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Spar and Engen Garage were also attacked by robbers in recent months.

Robbers

A truck driver who had come to deliver stock at Smile Supermarket, told this publication last Thursday that Maseko got shot while attempting to disarm one of the robbers. The truck driver said after the robbers had instructed them to lie down, he later saw the taximan wrestling with one of the robbers who was the last to leave the shop. He said Maseko tried to grab the firearm from the robber’s hand. “I tried to assist the taximan to grab the gun from the thief’s hand because I didn’t want him to get shot during the fight over the dangerous weapon. We overpowered the robber and forced him to remove all the bullets from his firearm,” he said. He said one of the robbers returned and opened fire on the taximan, who was inside the shop. The truck driver said he did not see where exactly Maseko was shot.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: