A young Mthatha man narrowly escaped death on Wednesday night when gunmen opened fire on the vehicle he was in, killing his taxi boss father and mother.
The high-calibre bullets missed Litha Stoyile, 20, by centimetres.
It was about 7pm on Wednesday when he climbed out of the double-cab Toyota Hilux to open the gate to their Mbuqe Extension home. The three men appeared from nowhere and opened fire. His parents, Mendu and Thembisa Stoyile, aged 64 and 54 respectively, were not as lucky. Both died in the hail of bullets.
“We were coming back home from town. My mother was driving, my dad was on the back seat and I was in the front passenger seat,” Litha said yesterday.
“When we arrived there was white Chev sedan parked along the street and we took no notice of it. When we arrived at the driveway I jumped out to open the gate. As I approached the garage doors, I heard shots. Everything happened so fast. I took cover in the garage. Later it was all quiet and the sedan was long gone.”
Litha said he would have died too had the gunmen fired while he was in the bakkie. “They meant business. They wanted to kill everyone inside the vehicle.”
At 10am yesterday morning, police combing the area for clues had picked up at least one spent cartridge of an R5 assault rifle.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said police had collected 30 spent cartridges on Wednesday night alone.
Most of the bullets hit the couple in their upper bodies, he added. “They were killed instantly.”
Police would not speculate on motives. No arrests have been made.
Relatives were shocked and devastated but elders called for calm.
“We discourage anyone who will feel it fit to revenge the killing.
“We must accept the departure as the will of God. But it is it very hard to believe that they are both gone and it will never be easy, especially the manner they died.
“We are devastated,” said Siyabulela Nontso, Thembisa’s brother.
The couple’s niece, Nomboniso Stoyile-Mtshamba, described the killing as “horrible” and a tragedy.
Uncedo Service Taxi Association (USTA) national president Ntsikelelo Gaehler said the Stoyiles were veterans of the organisation.
“They once served on the executive, with Mr Stoyile a chairman. We were shocked by the ambush and the killing. There is no taxi violence in the area and we do not want anyone to ignite it again,” said Gaehler. He had attended a USTA national meeting in Johannesburg with Mendu on Wednesday.
“He was still wearing USTA uniform when he died,” said Gaehler.
Ambushed taxi couple slain in hail of bullets
The high-calibre bullets missed Litha Stoyile, 20, by centimetres.
It was about 7pm on Wednesday when he climbed out of the double-cab Toyota Hilux to open the gate to their Mbuqe Extension home. The three men appeared from nowhere and opened fire. His parents, Mendu and Thembisa Stoyile, aged 64 and 54 respectively, were not as lucky. Both died in the hail of bullets.
“We were coming back home from town. My mother was driving, my dad was on the back seat and I was in the front passenger seat,” Litha said yesterday.
“When we arrived there was white Chev sedan parked along the street and we took no notice of it. When we arrived at the driveway I jumped out to open the gate. As I approached the garage doors, I heard shots. Everything happened so fast. I took cover in the garage. Later it was all quiet and the sedan was long gone.”
Litha said he would have died too had the gunmen fired while he was in the bakkie. “They meant business. They wanted to kill everyone inside the vehicle.”
At 10am yesterday morning, police combing the area for clues had picked up at least one spent cartridge of an R5 assault rifle.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said police had collected 30 spent cartridges on Wednesday night alone.
Most of the bullets hit the couple in their upper bodies, he added. “They were killed instantly.”
Police would not speculate on motives. No arrests have been made.
Relatives were shocked and devastated but elders called for calm.
“We discourage anyone who will feel it fit to revenge the killing.
“We must accept the departure as the will of God. But it is it very hard to believe that they are both gone and it will never be easy, especially the manner they died.
“We are devastated,” said Siyabulela Nontso, Thembisa’s brother.
The couple’s niece, Nomboniso Stoyile-Mtshamba, described the killing as “horrible” and a tragedy.
Uncedo Service Taxi Association (USTA) national president Ntsikelelo Gaehler said the Stoyiles were veterans of the organisation.
“They once served on the executive, with Mr Stoyile a chairman. We were shocked by the ambush and the killing. There is no taxi violence in the area and we do not want anyone to ignite it again,” said Gaehler. He had attended a USTA national meeting in Johannesburg with Mendu on Wednesday.
“He was still wearing USTA uniform when he died,” said Gaehler.
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