Seven held over taxi war, illegal weapons confiscated

POLICE have arrested seven taxi operators linked to taxi violence in the O R Tambo district and confiscated a stash of illegal weapons.

The weapons including a homemade gun.

The crime intelligence driven police swoop in Port St Johns and Libode took place during the early hours of yesterday morning.

Taxi violence in the area has already claimed more than 30 lives, some of whom were innocent bystanders.

Police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena said more arrests were expected.

The suspects, aged between 29 and 70 years, were arrested during raids in the two towns which lasted between 1am and 9am yesterday.

A .303 rifle with 25 rounds of ammunition, a home-made gun, six bushknives and two pangas were recovered during the raids.

Three vehicles were also seized by the police’s intervention team set up to quell the ongoing taxi violence in the O R Tambo district.

A licensed firearm belonging to a senior member of one of the feuding taxi associations has also been taken for ballistic tests.

“Four of the suspects have been charged with murder and attempted murder where two people were killed and eight injured in the Ntlaza Taxi Rank early last week,” said Koena.

“The other three face charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and possession of dangerous weapons.”

She said the suspects would appear in court soon.

Following last week’s violence, which saw two people killed when unknown gunmen fired randomly at the Ntlaza Taxi Rank, both Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga and safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana announced during a meeting with taxi associations in Libode that the R61 route between Mthatha and Lusikisiki would be closed to taxis for six weeks.

On Tuesday President Jacob Zuma, while addressing thousands of people during Human Rights Day celebrations in King William’s Town, spoke for the first time against the taxi violence.

He said South Africans needed to accept that crime was a problem in the country and then work hard to root it out.

Yesterday Koena said their operations were continuing and that the departments of transport and traffic, both nationally and provincially, as well as King Sabata Dalindyebo’s municipal traffic department had joined the fight against taxi violence in the district. —