Hit on taximen causes panic

Meetings after driver, owner fatally shot

ANOTHER taxi boss and a driver were shot and killed in Mthatha this week, prompting anxious transport authorities to hold an urgent meeting with two prominent associations to try and find a lasting solution to the ongoing taxi violence.

Mthatha police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena confirmed a taxi owner and a driver were gunned down near the residential suburb of Fortgale at about 8pm on Thursday.

“Crime scene specialists worked through the night collecting evidence to assist investigators,” she said.

She said the victims, aged 43 and 28, whom she refused to name, were returning to Payne village where they stay when they were gunned down on the N2 near Fortgale.

“Several empty catridges were retrieved from the scene,” added Koena.

The motive for the killings is still unknown. The victims were travelling in a bakkie, police said. She also appealed to anyone with information to contact the nearest police station or call the Crime Stop line on 0860010111.

She promised that any information received would be treated as confidential.

The Dispatch reported earlier this week that while responding to a parliamentary question from DA MPL Bobby Stevenson, Safety MEC Weziwe Tikana revealed that more than 60 taxi bosses and operators had been killed between 2015 and last year.

Most of the deaths occurred in the O R Tambo, Buffalo City and Amathole regions. Mthatha police revealed this week that another driver had been gunned down in what is believed to be an incident related to taxi violence.

The 41-year-old victim had bullet wounds in his upper body and was alone in the taxi near Ngqeleni when he was killed.

Yesterday, a concerned Tikana expressed condolences to the families of the two latest victims, adding that she had already instructed the police not to leave any stone unturned in their investigations.

She also confirmed that she was currently engaging with the bosses of the two main taxi associations, Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata) and Uncedo Service Taxi Association (Usta) and the president of the South African National Taxi Council, Phillip Taaibosch, to try and find a last solution to the problem of taxi violence.

“Part of our engagements include a discussion on the removal of association stickers which we believe make it easy for attackers to identify their victim,” Tikana said.

Neither Usta or Bata officials could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday. —