- Inga Mkoko, a survivor of the 2022 Soweto tavern shooting that claimed 18 lives, lost both legs and part of his left hand.
- Despite immense physical and emotional challenges, including homelessness and abandonment, Mkoko now operates a mobile business.
- A passionate advocate for resilience, Mkoko credits his love for horticulture and community support for his recovery.
“Life is unpredictable, I didn’t think one day I would be sitting on a wheelchair without legs.”
These were remarks expressed by Inga Mkoko, who was shot and injured in what he described as a shooting spree at a tavern in Soweto, Gauteng.
The resident of Phase 2 informal settlement in Lusaka, Nyanga, said he almost lost his life in the incident.
“It occurred on 9 July 2022 in the evening. I was staying near the tavern. I went to the shebeen to ask the owner to charge my cellphone. When I was about to leave, one of the guys playing pool gave me a stick and asked me to finish his game.”
Seconds later, gunshots were heard outside, which were largely ignored.
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But then, said Mkoko, spurts of dust started appearing from under the counter; bullets were coming in through the wall and hitting the counter. “We started running trying to hide inside the shebeen. Others went under the tables and under the pool table. I ran to the other door trying to escape, but unfortunately the door was locked.”
He said a guy wearing a mask came in carrying a rifle and started shooting people, one by one. “I was in a corner cowering, watching people being killed right before my very eyes, and when he came to me he shot me several times until the magazine was finished, and then went outside to change it and come back in again. By then, I had already given up and thought I would die.”
Mkoko said he had 13 bullet wounds in the lower body and two in the right arm. He said 16 people died on the scene and two died later in hospital, while four were seriously injured.
Originally from Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, Mkoko said he was in hospital for almost six months. He requested that the doctors amputate both his legs because of the serious state they were in, not to mention the pain.
“I was literally crying because of the pain. My legs were damaged and I was paralysed anyway. I decided to ask the doctor to cut them because I was not going to walk again. My four fingers on the left hand were also removed because they had developed gangrene (a serious condition that occurs when body tissue dies due to a lack of blood flow or a bacterial infection). On this hand I have a thumb only.”
The 27-year-old said before the incident occurred he worked as a street vendor selling sweets, biscuits, cigarettes, cellphone pouches, among other provisions.
He said his struggles didn’t end there. After being discharged from hospital he went to stay with his local pastor as he had no family and was unable to do anything.
“At that time, I was still visiting the clinic every two days to treat my wounds. There was nothing I could do because both legs and hands were bandaged. The pastor had to bath and feed me. He eventually ejected me because I had become a burden. He’d got tired of me.”
Afterwards, he got a cousin to take him in, but this was also short-lived. “I had to be strong. For three weeks, I didn’t have a proper place to sleep, even though I had already resumed selling cigarettes and sweets on the streets so that I could get money to buy something to eat. There was a spaza shop I operated next to after work, with my small bag and some of my stock.”
Mkoko said because he was well-known in the area some sympathetic people would give him a place to sleep.
He said he didn’t want to come to Cape Town because he didn’t want to be a bother to his mother. Moreover, his siblings who were living with their mother informed him of the depression she was suffering from on account of what had happened to him.
Nevertheless, to Cape Town Mkoko came, in April last year, and since then he has made peace with his condition.
He currently has his own garden planting vegetables and selling seedlings, insecticide and garden equipment.
Daily, Mkoko goes around selling his produce at Gugulethu Mall, Nyanga Junction and The Junxtion, in Philippi.
“I don’t have time to relax. To me time is money. I have a small trailer that I made to put the seedlings, insecticide, rake,watering can and other stuff and go around selling them. I use my electric wheelchair to pull it.”
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He said what kept him active were his love for gardening as well as the messages of support from people.
Mkoko said before the shooting and his disability he did a short course in horticulture. He didn’t see himself as a disabled person, merely as someone who had been injured.
“Everyone knows me. Everywhere I go people greet me. When my limbs have healed I will buy prosthetic legs. I motivate people even on social media. People must never give up on themselves. They must always believe in God. He knows what he is doing.”
