A 23-year-old young man from Ext. 4 is believed to have been poisoned after drinking a Coca-Cola at the Business Hive on Wednesday 20 May.
The man, known as Tshepiso Tshasa, is a food vendor at the Business Hive in the CBD.
On Wednesday, he was not at work and was seen around the Business Hive, carrying a bottle of water. He apparently left the business area and later returned from a different direction. He was near the Russells furniture shop when he had to sit down because he was suddenly feeling weak. When he started salivating profusely, he mentioned to his step-sister that someone had given him a can of Coke. Before long, he started complaining of stomach cramps, which got so bad that he had to lie down.
Tshasa was rushed to hospital by ambulance and died shortly afterwards. It emerged that his death had been caused by an unknown poison. His death came as a shock to his family and friends. According to his guardian, Evaline Ntampe, he seemed to be okay and showed no signs of problems.
“He never said anything to us,” she said. The deceased had been living with her since he was 16 years old. He was described as quiet person who could listen.
He had apparently been having issues with his girlfriend recently and was reported to have been seen crying outside a local nightclub. The possibility that he may have poisoned himself can therefore not be ruled out. Investigations were still in progress at the time of the newspaper going to print and a post-mortem still has to be conducted to confirm what kind of poison had killed the young man.
