'My son was not a gangster, he hated guns'

A mother of a young man who was gunned down in Westbury, west of Johannesburg, has recalled how his father sat with the dead body for hours after he was killed.

Luciano Joseph, 22, was shot while sitting with four friends outside Dulcie flats at the corner of Rahima Moosa and Price streets. The group had been chatting when a silver-grey Toyota Corolla stopped next to them and opened fire. 

Two of Joseph's friends were seriously injured, with one sustaining 15 gunshot wounds. Only one of the four managed to escape unharmed. Joseph's mother Nicky Stevens recalled: “I received a phone call after 8pm telling me that my son was shot and I needed to rush to the scene.

When we arrived there, he was lying on the ground covered with a foil blanket. “We waited for hours, we could not touch his body and stood from afar but his father could not; he sat on a rock near his son's body watching over him while we waited for police and forensics. He sat there from 8pm and forensics only arrived at 1am on Monday.” She said Joseph's father, Quinton, watched his son take his last breath.

“My son was not a gangster, he hated guns but they killed him. Innocent people are dying and for what? I want to know why they killed my son. He was not part of these gangs,” she said, describing him as friendly young man who always stood by her. “He had promised to buy us a house and give us a better life.” Stevens said her son was killed just days before he could start his new job at a soft drink manufacturing company.

The area, just a stone's throw away from Westbury, is plagued by gang violence between two rival groups, the Fast Guns and the Varados, who are also found in areas such as Claremont, Riverlea and Noorgesig.

Stevens said the violence has worsened in these neighbouring communities over the years and there was lack of willpower to tackle gang violence. Asked about the upcoming elections and whether she hoped her vote will help make a difference in helping eradicate gangsterism in her area, Stevens said: “I am not sure what difference my vote with do come the 29th. “My vote has not made a difference all these years, why would I be hopeful now?

The crime is out of control, our police are failing us and no one is doing anything about it. Our children are dying.” Witnesses at the scene said they saw a man wearing a balaclava exiting a silver Toyota Corolla and then opening fire.

One of the witnesses, who asked not to be identified for fear of victimisation, said the man then started firing while exiting the car. “Luciano was shot in the back. He was struggling and gasping for breath so one of his friends turned back to try and help him up, but he also got hit many times. “The other two managed to run into the flats, one of them was hit in the knee,” the witness said.

There were three other people in the [getaway] car. One was the driver, the other two were at the back.” According to another witness, the area near the Dulcie flats is known to be the Fast Guns territory.

These flats are separated from Westbury by a street. “There is a chance they [Varados] were trying to send a message to the Fast Guns, but why shoot people who are not involved?”

Gauteng police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said police were in need of the public's assistance to help trace the suspects who were driving in a vehicle that had no number plate. “The police are investigating cases of murder and attempted murder. No arrest has been made and investigation is underway,” he said.

sibiyan@sowetan.co.za