There were tears, screaming, singing and dancing during the emotional send-off for Fhatuwani Manyaga, a young taxi driver who was shot dead during a suspected hijacking near Diepsloot, Gauteng.

Manyaga, of Manamani village near Shayandima, was shot twice in the head last Wednesday morning, shortly after 09:00.

His unfortunate death inflicted more pain on his parents, Azwiangwi Manyaga and Edith Manyaga, when one of the national daily newspapers reported on Friday that “Fhatuwani was found with his pants down when his body was found.” The paper also reported that Fhatu-wani (27), a married man with one child, was on the backseat of the taxi he was driving “with a magosha, a sex worker,” when the incident happened.

However, this story is disputed by his boss, Oupa Sithole, the owner of the taxi, and his colleague, Edward Mudzunga.

“I never spoke to any journalist about the death of Fhatuwani. I was in Mpumalanga when the incident happened.

“I asked Fhatuwani to go and tow another taxi that had a break-down, just before 19:00. He promised that he would be there before 19:30, but when he was called later, his phone was off,” says Sithole.

Sithole says: “When we arrived at the scene at around 23:00, Fhatuwani’s body was facing down while he was still fully dressed. “The only thing that was unusual was that the inside of his trousers’ pockets were protruding. Fhatuwani was not in the back seat as it is claimed and there was no shot that was fired inside the car or just some blood spots,” says Sithole.

Sithole also added that Fhatuwani was the best driver of his nine employees since he started working for him seven years ago. “That boy was the most disciplined one amongst all my drivers. He was always the first one to arrive at the yard, in Chatsworth, Fourways.”

Fhatuwani was buried at Manamani cemetery on Sunday morning. He is survived by his wife, Tshililo Manyanga, and a four-year-old daughter, Fhatisani.