Community members from Ncise Location, in Mthatha, mourned the passing of a well-known businessman in this area, Zibele Dafeti (43), who was shot while he was in one of his shops recently.
He will be laid to rest on Sunday, June 12, at Ncise Administrative Area in Mthatha.
His father, Luvuyo Dafeti (70), said his son never went to look for a job. Instead he started showing interest in business while he was still at Ncise Primary School.
He added that they (his parents) used to ask him to look after their shop when they were not available, not knowing that by doing so, they would encourage him to become a business owner himself.
“He ended up opening his own spaza shop here at home, although he was still going to school.
He then went to Riverside High to do Grade 10 but unfortunately, I lost my job, so he was forced to leave school and stay at home.
“Among the things he did was ploughing vegetables. He had some projects where he employed some of the community members to fight poverty,” said Dafeti.
He said now that Zibele was no more, they did not know who would assist the community. Dafeti said that he spoke with him when they were coming from church not knowing that it was his last time to hear a word from him.
“I asked him to come and plough my garden. He promised me that he would speak with his driver, which he did, and the driver arrived on the following day. I was shocked when I received a call from his wife on the same evening, informing me that Zibele was shot in his tavern.
“When I went to his shop where the incident took place, I was told that he was rushed to hospital.”
Dafeti said he still didn’t believe that his son was no more because he was everything to his family.
One of the community members, Nosisa Qashani, said they were very shocked by the passing of Zibele. She said his firstborn child used to work on Zibele’s project until he got a job in Cape Town.
“Even my youngest son was working on that project; he was supporting people from Link to Matshongwe area; even if you had a problem and you could not afford to pay for a tractor at that particular moment, Zibele would assist you with his tractor.
“During the June and December holidays, he would take our children to work in his projects,” said Qashani.
Another community member, Nosizile Qashani, said even though Zibele was still young, they managed to learn a lot from him.
“Our children were no longer living on street corners because of him. I am one of the people who were working with him in his project, I learnt a lot from him. He was a leader and I am worried because now that he is no more his project will collapse,” said Nosizile.
