About a thousand gather to bid farewell to brutally-killed Khoza

The memorial service was attended by more than 20 representatives from different taxi associations in the province, government officials, family members, friends, members of the public from all over the province, with the vast majority of attendees from Reiger Park and Windmill Park.

Khoza’s colleagues, friends, counterparts and relatives described him as a man who was humble, kind, caring, a peacemaker, and dedicated to his job, as well as devout and God-fearing man.

They expressed their sincere condolences and deep sympathy to the Khoza family.

Khoza was born in 1956 in Benoni. His family moved to Germiston but later relocated to Reiger Park where he spent most of his life, before he moved to Windmill Park.

He is from a family of five boys and one girl, however, two of his brothers passed away before his death.

According to his brother, Chris Khoza, Andy always wanted to be self-employed.

He bought a kombi and joined the taxi industry in 1988.

He was then appointed as the chairperson of the Reiger Park Association in 1990 and he has been serving in that position till his death on May 15.

He got married to Wilma in 1979 and they have six children, four girls and two boys.

The Khoza family was busy preparing for the wedding of one of their daughters, Louise, which was supposed to be held on May 24, just after the shooting happened, causing a postponement.

Khoza was a member of the Old Apostolic Church, located in Reiger Park.

Chris says that through the church Andy used to organise soup kitchen for the needy and children, and he assisted several community organisations that look after the poor in Windmill Park and Reiger Park.

For more than two years, the Reiger Park and Vosloorus taxi associations have been fighting for rights to the Holomisa-to-Boksburg route.

The Johannesburg High Court ruled that the route belongs to the Reiger Park Association, but the Vosloorus Association is challenging this ruling.

A representative from the Kempton Park Taxi Association, Eddie Mkhonto, urged mourners not to revenge the killings of Khoza.

“I make an appeal for the Khoza family, the Reiger Park Taxi Association and members of the community to put everything into the hands of God. Only God has all the answers to our problems,” says Mkhonto.

Mkhonto said that he is himself a survivor of an assassination attempts.

“A gunman attempted to kill me when he fired shots at me and 18 of them hit me. With the grace of God I survived.

“Initially I wanted to pay revenge, but I subsequently changed my mind and asked God to deal with all those who planned the assassination.”

Mkhonto asked mourners to refrain from making comments which would stir emotions to “make a bad situation worse.”

Some of the speakers accused the government of failing to end the ongoing taxi violence, and expressed concerns as to why people who witnessed the shooting are not coming forward with information.

However, other speakers said blame cannot be cast on anyone, and stated that the taxi industry will have to fix itself.

A fear of the taxi operators were also expressed, while an appeal was made that operators do something to change the public perception of the taxi industry.

PRO for the Reiger Park Taxi Association, Mike Sultan, says as members of the association, they are still in shock by the killing of Khoza.

“Although, at this stage, we can’t say who did it, it is about time that the police intervene in these ongoing killings. We have lost many lives and we are very worried about the violence,” says Sultan.

Sultan describes Khoza as a man who always preached peace among the different taxi associations.

n Khoza was gunned down just after 8am on Thursday morning, May 15, while driving along Elsburg Road, between Reiger Park and Ramaphosa, in a shooting suspected to be related to a fight over taxi routes.

According to a family member, two of Khoza’s grandchildren, aged three years and the other 10 months, as well as one of his daughters were inside the car during the shooting. They were not injured but were severely traumatised by the incident.

According to the police, it apparently started at the traffic light, at the intersection of Elsburg and Archie roads, where the gunman was waiting for Khoza.

“When Khoza arrived at the traffic lights, a gunman pulled out a gun and shot multiple times at Khoza’s car,” says Mathebula.

Khoza tried to dodge the bullets and drove away along Elsburg Road. The gunman, however, pursued Khoza and cornered him about 400 metres away from the traffic lights.

The shooter continued firing wildly at Khoza’s car, and he succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained during the shooting.

According to Mathebula, police found 30 bullet cartridges on the crime scene, and the car sustained 32 bullet holes. The alleged gunman is still on the loose.

If you have information that could help investigators, call the Reiger Park police on 011 916 7000.

Khoza’s funeral took place at the Old Apostolic Church, Reiger Park, on May 24 at 9am.