A 79-year old Eastern Cape Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) activist who spent time with Nelson Mandela and others in prison on Robben Island was shot dead in Centane near Butterworth last week.
Pensioner Likhadi Aba’s vehicle was found burnt near his lifeless body when it was discovered last Monday morning.
Aba, who was arrested for his political activism and spent three years on Robben Island between 1959 and 1962, was found with a bullet wound to his head. His shoes were missing.
His son Bonakele said Aba was last seen on Sunday when he drove his Tata Indica from his Machibi Village home to the Centane CBD.
While the family was unsure what had transpired after that, they suspected it was a hijacking or armed robbery “gone horrible wrong”.
“He left home for town on Sunday and when he failed to return later that day my mother, who was staying alone with him, summoned my cousin to go and look for him.
“He sometimes frequented places that sell alcohol in Centane and when he was not found in any of them, a missing person was reported to police,” said the son.
Bonakele said his father’s body was discovered lying next to a road between Centane and Butterworth.
“His vehicle, which had a tracker, was found completely burnt hours later.
“As a result we could not gather any information from it that could have led us to understand what transpired in his last minutes.
“So at this moment we remain confused as to what exactly was the motive for this gruesome deed,” he said.
The PAC’s national deputy president Mzwanele Nyontso, also from Centane, yesterday said the incident had sent shockwaves throughout the party structures and communities in Centane.
“It is really shocking and saddening that this could be done to a 79-year old person. We are more shocked as the party, as he was a tried and tested cadre,” he said.
Nyontso said Aba joined the PAC in the 1950s “and was one of those from the party who spent time on the island with other political heavyweights, thus making him a heavyweight of our liberation struggle”.
Bonakele said Aba, who leaves his wife, three children and a number of grandchildren, will be buried on Saturday in Machibi Village.
Police spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said no arrests had been made and that police investigations were ongoing. — asandan@dispatch.co.za