Weeks after a Facebook post showed Black Business Caucus co-ordinator Baba Ningi and a young girl flashing a large stack of cash, he was brazenly gunned down outside a Zwide butchery in broad daylight on Monday.
The body of Ningi, 48, lay in Koyana Street for hours, covered by just a blanket, as police combed the area for clues.
Police officers, who declined to be named, said they could not rule out the possibility that his death was linked to a hit centred around allegations of SMMEs not being paid for cleaning municipal drains in December.
Worried residents stood around the crime scene, just outside the Lifa and Mafa Butchery where Ningi was shot multiple times at about 2pm.
“I am afraid this could spell the beginning of a bloodbath,” a man, who did not want to be named, said.
An unidentified woman wept uncontrollably while her friends tried to console her.
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said Ningi had been involved in an altercation with an unidentified man inside the butchery shortly before the shooting.
“While he was leaving and crossing the road to his vehicle, an unidentified man fired several shots at him,” he said. Ningi died at the scene. “The gunman disappeared after the shooting,” Beetge said.
The Facebook post of Ningi and the child showing the cash was widely circulated on Facebook earlier in January.
The post sparked a protest outside the Port Elizabeth City Hall and Uitenhage Town Hall on January 13, with some business owners claiming he was living large while they were yet to be paid for cleaning municipal drains in December.
The unpaid SMME owners alleged at the time that Ningi and another Black Business Caucus co-ordinator, Lithemba Singaphi, had paid themselves millions of rands meant for the SMME owners.
Both Ningi and Singaphi vehemently denied the allegations at the time.
One SMME owner, who declined to be named, said after the shooting: “You can’t take people for fools forever.
“They will do things they never thought they would do.”
He said he was unsure if Ningi’s death was linked to the drain project – but it was more than likely.
“If you keep on robbing people and then enrich yourself they will act.
“You live by the gun, you die by the gun.”
Another SMME owner, who refused to be named, said Ningi’s death was clearly linked to the project.
“There were a lot of people that were not paid. They have clearly retaliated,” he said.
“There were also lots of people in the townships who were not paid. It has to be linked.
“It is not merely a coincidence that he is gunned down after all the problems with the project started to surface.”
A third SMME owner said he was not surprised.
“I think everyone expected something like this to happen,” he said, also declining to be named.
In December, about 900 SMMEs were allocated work packages – totalling R21m – following a council decision.
While there had only been 600 SMMEs initially, the number increased to 945 as more signed up for the work packages.
The municipality used two Bay companies – Finecorp and JK Structures, which were already on its supply database and had existing contracts with the city for drain-cleaning work.
Finecorp and JK Structures then signed a cession on December 13 2018 with Sholden Lukwe Construction and Mbumba Project Managers to manage and pay the SMMEs.
The Black Business Caucus was responsible for compiling a list of all SMMEs that would receive work packages along with their banking details to receive payment.
Singaphi, who is out of the province on business, said he was devastated by Ningi’s death.
“I am shocked by this sad and devastating news. I am really shocked,” he said.
“I fail to understand why people cannot resolve their differences like human beings.”
Ningi, commenting on the Facebook post at the time, said the pictures had been taken by his daughter.
“That money was for my brother’s cow. My brother died almost 10 years ago and I bought the cow for a ceremony,” he said then.
He told The Herald he had only received R13,950 for cleaning drains.
Meanwhile, Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Mongameli Bobani called for calm among SMMEs.
“We have heard the sad news,” he said.
“We are shocked but are appealing to residents, his friends and colleagues to remain calm.”
Bobani said the police must be given the necessary space to establish the motive for the shooting. “We don’t know what that motive is at the moment. We must allow the police to find the reasons for this,” he said.
“But to his family and friends, we pass on our deepest sympathy.
“Residents must remain calm. We don’t want any more killings.”
At the crime scene, traffic was brought to a standstill as scores of curious onlookers gathered around.
Another man, who declined to be named, said Ningi and some friends had left an SMME function at Centenary Hall earlier in the day.
“They decided to go and buy meat which they were meant to braai,” he said.
Other residents at the scene refused to speak about the shooting.