Cape Town - Senzo Meyiwa was at the prime of his career, captaining both Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana when he was gunned down on October 26, 2014.
On November 30, 2021, amapiano star and businessman DJ Sumbody was killed in a drive-by shooting north of Johannesburg.
On January 30 this year, Bacardi music pioneer Itumeleng Mosoeu, known as Vusi Ma R5, died, also in a hail of bullets, in Soshanguve.
Then last Friday night – February 10 – rap icon AKA was shot and killed outside Wish restaurant in Durban’s Florida Road.
He was with a friend – entertainment entrepreneur, seasoned chef and celebrated author Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.
While five men are on trial for Meyiwa’s murder in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, with proceedings scheduled to resume in May, not much has been heard about the other cases except that they are under investigation. Even with the Meyiwa case, there are questions as to whether the suspects were indeed responsible for his murder.
Not much has been heard about the gunmen who killed DJ Sumbody and Vusi Ma R5. The social media hashtags regarding these killings are dying down, and all that remains is the music they made.
When the lights went off, these national icons were husbands, boyfriends, fathers, uncles, sons, cousins and brothers. They were killed like dogs, and someone has to pay.
Police Minister Bheki Cele and national commissioner General Fannie Masemola must do all it takes to arrest the killers and send a message that no person deserves to lose their lives at the hands of another human being.
If not for the nation, then do it for Meyiwa, Vusi Ma R5, DJ Sumbody, AKA and Tibz – or make way for someone else who will bring the killers to book.
Cape Times