Brief appearance for taxi hitmen suspects
FOUR men accused of terrorising greater Mthatha as taxi violence peaked in the area appeared in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Ongoing taxi violence in the O R Tambo district has seen 60 people killed in 18 months.
The accused – Kholwana Ntanjana, 28, Vuyo Mahlombe, 28, Mncedi Fasi, 30, and Monelisi Fasi, 45 – all represented by top Mthatha lawyer Sitembele Mgxaji, made a brief appearance before their matter was postponed to May 26 for further investigations.
They face four counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The murder charges relate to:
● The killing of Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata) Corhana rank chairman Zandisile Vinindwa in November 15 last year;
● The killing of Bata taxi owner Fezekile Smayile in February; and
● The killing of a Golden Egg taxi rank vehicle owner Lifa Nguse and his brother-in-law, also in February.
The four accused, and two others, are due in the Libode Magistrate’s Court today on more taxi violence related charges, including unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition and possession of stolen vehicles, and charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
In today’s case the state is expected to provide a detailed report on ballistic tests conducted on the firearms confiscated from the men, by the police’s Eastern Cape taxi violence task team on February 26.
They were nabbed at Sibangweni village near Mthatha in a swoop police believe was a major breakthrough in their endeavours to crack down on those behind the ongoing taxi violence in the area.
On their arrest, police also confiscated two allegedly stolen cars – a Mercedes-Benz C250 AMG and a Hyundai i20. Two R5 rifles, an AK47 and three pistols were also found in their possession.
The accused men are from Kwelerha village in East London, Majola village in Port St Johns, Lamontville and Thongathi in KwaZulu-Natal, Khayelitsha in Cape Town, and Mthatha.
They reportedly confessed to the crimes, but their lawyer is making a bid to have the confessions thrown out, arguing they were coerced into making them.
● The Mthatha High Court has set aside five days beginning today for the trial of Ntsikelelo Mangala, 37, whom the state believes terrorised the remote area of Bhityi near Mthatha.
He faces 18 counts of rape and a number of murder and robbery charges. Provincial police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni said he had been “positively identified [Mangala] through DNA”.
“He is a member of a notorious group called
Gang’ that has been terrorising the Bhityi and Mthatha villages, committing rapes at night while riding on horses and usually clad in balaclavas,” Tonjeni said. —