The leader of the Tshwane Barekisi Forum, Shoes Maloka, was shot in the north of Pretoria on Thursday evening by unknown men, the forum said. Tshwane Barekisi Forum is one of the bodies representing hawkers in the city centre.
“Maloka was shot by people who caught a taxi with him from the city when he was going home,” one of the forum leaders, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons, said.
He said a gunman fired several shots at Maloka just after the taxi dropped him off. “Only one bullet hit Maloka, the other missed him,” the leader said. He said the bullet struck Maloka in the chest just above his heart. “They wanted to make sure he died.”
It appears more than one person was involved in the attack, but it is unclear at this stage how many people were involved.
The shooting, which has left Maloka fighting for his life in a local hospital, happened almost the same as the shooting of forum secretary Eliot Nkadimeng on 6 October last year.
Nkadimeng was shot four times after a taxi from the city centre had dropped him off near his home in Nellmapius. He spent more than two months in hospital before he was discharged to recover at home.
The forum believes the shooting is an attempt to stop the Tshwane Barekisi Forum from representing informal traders in the city centre. “It is clear the attacks on our leaders are not just random crimes, but a plot to kill them,” a forum leader said.
He said the shooting of Maloka happened while the forum and the metro were engaged in successful discussions to address the hawkers’ problems.
The forum said the mayor had agreed on their suggestion of holding elections among hawkers in the area to select a body to represent them in the city centre.
The forum sees the latest attack as an attempt to frustrate them and delay the elections.
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