Emmarentia road rage portrays SA’s growing culture of intolerance

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has declined to prosecute the man who shot and killed Faisel Ul Rhehman (48), a husband and father described as ‘a very good man’, in a road-rage incident in Emmarentia at the weekend. The victim’s wife, Tehseen, was critically injured after also being shot.

This incident has brought to the fore the culture of violence and anger, which manifests itself in road rage incidents and a rise in domestic violence among South African families.

Our drivers are not famous for their patience but are quite notorious for their aggression behind the wheel, hence we have such a high fatality rate on our roads.

Witnesses have alleged that the altercation between the victim and his killer was a result of a fender-bender incident, and the use of guns could have been averted completely had the two gentlemen walked away rather than confront each other in the way they did.

After failing to resolve their argument allegedly through swearing and a fist fight, they escalated the dispute to the use of guns, sadly, in the presence of children who had to witness their father dying right in front of their eyes, and their mom getting serious injuries during it.

The shooting sounded like a scene from a Western movie, where cowboys try to outdraw each other. Another surprise element is the allegation that it was the mother who went and pulled out a firearm, discharged it first, before handing it over to her husband to finish the job.

One would expect both parents to have known how dangerous guns are, especially when discharged in front of young children, where there was a likelihood of one of them catching a stray bullet.

Most parents would protect their young ones from violence and violent encounters. They would be restrained in their responses to provocation and would have pulled out a firearm only if their lives and those of their children were in danger.

However, reports on this incident show that the lives of the Rhehman’s were not in any danger, hence the NPA declined to prosecute, saying the shooter acted in self-defence.

My deepest condolences go to Rhehman’s family and his children, who must be traumatised by the shooting and the death of their dad. They didn’t deserve to witness all this violence.

What about gun ownership makes people brazen and reckless and fail to contain their anger? Does owning a gun make the owner feel stronger and make him believe he is beyond reproach?

A case in point is Paralympian Oscar Pretorius, who shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp after he said in court that he thought a burglar had locked himself in his toilet.

He didn’t just use an ordinary gun; he used a Taurus PT 917 CS 9mm semi-automatic pistol loaded with dangerous ammunition. He fired at her 4 times through a closed toilet door without trying to ascertain if indeed a burglar was hiding in there.

Even if a burglar was in there, was he trying to kill someone whom he couldn’t see, or was he trying to disarm an unseen person by firing four bullets without even waiting for a response?

Before this incident, Pistorius is alleged to have fired a gun at the ceiling of a popular restaurant. Such is the mindset of people who keep guns as toys when the instrument is deadly and can easily end someone’s life within seconds.

Once that trigger is pulled, there is no turning back, and one would think all gun owners know that and would pause before pulling a trigger when not in any danger.

I am not advocating for people to be attacked and killed while they have guns in their possession, which they could use to defend themselves. But we have too many murders in this country, where guns have been used to kill and maim, not as a defence weapon, but as an instrument of aggression.

And we cannot ignore the fact that we live in a society where people are highly stressed. In contrast, others are just downright violent and impatient, which manifests itself in violent road-rage incidents, domestic violence and other criminal acts.

As parents, we complain a lot about our children’s unbecoming behaviour, often bordering on bullying and violence against their peers.

We don’t pause to think about how our behaviour influences the conduct of our children, who play it out in society.

We have had approximately six learners who have died so far in 2026 from stabbings and other violent attacks by other learners. And we wonder where their violent streaks emanate from.

Research from Gun Free SA says: ‘With 15 women killed every day, new research and police crime statistics show the extent to which SA’s femicide crisis is driven by gun violence’.

The report says guns are the leading weapon used to murder women, while women are most at risk of being killed with a legal gun, firearm licence applications have increased by 58% since 2016.

Shockingly, the number of applications for legal guns keeps rising, and one wonders what the reasons are for wanting to arm ourselves with dangerous weapons.

Is it because we are an angry country, angry at what, angry at each other? Are we killing so many women because they are indispensable or because they are easy targets? Shouldn’t we, at this stage, not look at tightening the laws around acquiring guns so that not every Tom, Dick and Harry can get a gun?

Also, we need to ensure our police officers adhere to strict laws on how to safeguard their guns, because often, it is also the men and women in blue who kill their partners using their service and legally acquired guns.

A violent society like ours, with our recent history of an apartheid system and repression, land dispossession and the brutal subjugation of a whole population through violence, doesn’t do well when it comes to gun access and handling.

We first need a way to deal with or confront anger

Mbuyiselo Botha is a gender activist, a gun violence survivor and a secretariat member of the Global Coalition for WHO Action on Gun Violence. His father was shot and killed by police in the Sharpeville Massacre.

© Higher Education Media Services – www.ednews.africa