Driver and conductor found dead, taxi burnt

THE bound bodies of a taxi driver aged 32 and his 24-year-old conductor were found next to each other not far from the smoking wreck of their burnt taxi.

MEC for transport, safety and liaison Weziwe Tikana said her department and the police were working closely with Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata) in dealing with the killings.

“Two members of Bata have been fingered as instigators of the latest violence. Their names have been forwarded to the department, in line with the memorandum of understanding we signed in June.

“We have written to the two operators notifying them that we are withdrawing their operating licences.”

Bata national president Vuyani Mshiywa said the killings arose out of an internal fight and had nothing to do with any other taxi organisations.

He said anyone found linked to the killings would be expelled from the “entire SA taxi industry for life”.

Lusikisiki police spokeswoman Captain Nozuko Handile said the two bodies were found near the Malongwe village along the R61 between Port St Johns and Lusikisiki on Saturday.

“The bodies were found by an elderly man who was looking for his lost goats and he informed the local traditional leader and the police. Their hands were tied behind their backs with shoelaces,” said Handile.

She said police on the scene discovered that the two men were shot dead. “Five empty cartridges from a pistol were found on the scene,” said Handile.

Police then established that the two dead men were members of Bata in Mthatha. No arrests have yet been made. Taxi violence in the region has claimed 32 lives since March 2016. Damage to taxis has been put at R50million with more than 70 taxis set alight or stoned.

Rival taxi associations Uncedo Service Taxi Association and Bata have eventually agreed that all associations should operate freely on the R61 route between Lusikisiki and Mthatha. —