Taxi boss shot dead in Bushbuckridge

The national president of the Federated Long and Local Distance Taxi Association (FELLDTA), Justice Dusty Madalane, was gunned down at his business in Dwarsloop, which falls under the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, yesterday.

Madalane was also a board member and treasurer of Bushbuckridge Community Radio and was said to have gone the extra mile to see the radio station succeed.

According to provincial police spokesperson Captain Magonseni Nkosi, Madalane was shot several times at his business. His son rushed him to Mapulaneng Hospital where he passed away.

Nkosi says police rushed to the hospital, but got there too late to interview him.

“We have registered a murder docket and investigations are ongoing. We don’t know the motive for this murder, but that will form part of the investigations,” says Nkosi.

FELLDTA is an affiliate of the National Taxi Alliance (NTA). The NTA’s national co-ordinator, Frans Kgasago, says the alliance is devastated.

“He was a very good leader who understood the taxi industry in a great way. It was not long ago that I was here to bury his son, who died in a road accident. We are extremely devastated and shocked to learn of Justice’s passing away,” he says.

“He was a great man who loved the radio station with all his heart. He would go as far as utilising his own resources just to make sure the radio station was successful in its endeavours. I am actually speechless about what has happened and am sending my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,” says Bushbuckridge Community Radio’s station manager, Mama Carol Kintu.

The station’s marketing executive, Mulawu Mathye, says Madalane’s passing left a massive void at the radio station and the Bushbuckridge community at large. “He was also a personal friend who had even graduated into a brother. He has left a massive void, and I’m still struggling to deal with the reality of his passing,” he says.

Madalane had recently pledged to donate R20 000 to Bushbuckridge Community Radio during a fundraising gala dinner at the Thulamahashe Stadium that was attended by health MEC Sasekani Manzini and Bushbuckridge mayor Lydia Moroane.

Mathye was the function’s organiser.