LEBOGANG SEALE
Abie Shiburi left his hometown to work in Joburg to support his family. And Shiburi swiftly established himself as a dedicated worker who delivered The Star newspapers around town on a motorbike.
But his life ended when a teenage minibus taxi driver without a driving licence allegedly crashed into him along Chris Hani Road in Soweto on July 29.
The driver, 18-year-old Sakhile Mlangeni, did not stop his taxi after the accident. He was transporting schoolchildren.
The accident left Shiburi in a coma.
Police were able to arrest Mlangeni with the help of Shiburi’s colleagues and Mlangeni’s girlfriend.
He was charged with reckless and negligent driving, and released on bail.
But since Mlangeni’s first court appearance, Shiburi died of head injuries at Lesedi Hospital in Soweto on August 11. Mlangeni will now face charges of culpable homicide.
Yesterday, Mlangeni made a brief appearance in the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto and his case was postponed to September 8 for further investigation. A warrant of arrest was issued for the owner of the taxi Mlangeni was driving when the accident occurred.
Yesterday, Shiburi’s grieving widow Hilda, 54, said the accident had robbed the family of a loving and responsible breadwinner.
“I am so sad, I don’t know what to say. I don’t have a job and none of my children work. What will we eat? Who will pay for rent?” asked Hilda, speaking from the family home in Nkowankowa, outside Tzaneen, Limpopo.
Hilda, who travelled from Limpopo to be at her husband’s bedside, said she had hoped he would regain consciousness.
“I prayed and prayed, hoping that he would recover, but he just lay there motionless, without uttering a word. After about 10 days, I got a phone call from the hospital. They said I must come quickly because he was too ill. I was scared because he had been very ill all along, so I asked my brother to go,” she said.
Hilda’s fears were realised when her brother was told that Shiburi had died.
“I just cried and cried in pain,“ she said.
Smuts Ngobeni, distribution manager at The Star, described Shiburi as a committed and reliable employee who had been with the company since 1994.
Shiburi will be buried in Nkowankowa tomorrow.