A private taxi driver has claimed he had a bizarre and disturbing encounter with Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, also known as Mark Tshuma, shortly before the Zimbabwean-born British national was arrested in South Africa.
The claims, contained in an unverified audio recording circulating on X, have not been independently verified by police or any other official source.
In the recording, the man, who identifies himself as a private taxi driver, alleges that Tshuma appeared to mistake him for one of several men he believed had been hired to kill him.
According to the driver’s account, Tshuma approached him in a distressed state, saying: “Shoot me, you were supposed to shoot me.”
The driver claims Tshuma appeared emotionally unstable and convinced that he was facing imminent danger.
He further alleges that two men who were with Tshuma contacted him to collect the suspect, after which he drove him for a short distance.
During the journey, the driver says he saw a message arrive on Tshuma’s mobile phone informing him that police were at his house.
He also claims Tshuma’s mother telephoned during the trip and that he briefly spoke to her before handing the phone back to her son.
According to the driver, he tried to calm Tshuma and repeatedly urged him not to harm himself.
He said Tshuma eventually got out of the vehicle near Rosettenville, despite his attempts to persuade him to remain inside because he appeared deeply troubled.
The driver claims it was only later that evening, after seeing news reports on his phone, that he realised the passenger he had picked up was the man wanted in connection with the deaths of his wife and two daughters in the United Kingdom.
The account emerged days after South African police disclosed that they believe Tshuma purchased an illegal firearm after arriving in Johannesburg and intended to use it to end his own life.
Speaking after Tshuma’s first court appearance, South African Police Service spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said investigators believed the firearm had been bought shortly after he entered the country.
“According to our investigation, after landing in South Africa on July 5, he then went to one of the townships and bought this particular unlicensed firearm,” Mathe said.
“It is our suspicion that this firearm was going to be used to end his life.”
Tshuma, 45, appeared before the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday after being arrested in Kensington during a joint operation involving the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Interpol.
He currently faces a South African charge of possessing an illegal firearm while British authorities pursue his extradition to face three counts of murder.
Prosecutors allege Tshuma fled the United Kingdom after the deaths of his wife, Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 42, and their daughters, Natalie, 15, and Nala, 5.
The three were found dead at the family’s home in Great Denham, Bedfordshire, on 6 July.
A post-mortem examination concluded that all three died from blunt force trauma.
The court postponed Tshuma’s case to 22 July to allow South African authorities to verify his immigration status and continue extradition proceedings.
Neither South African nor British investigators have commented on the taxi driver’s claims, and there is no official evidence at this stage to substantiate the allegations contained in the circulating audio recording.
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