Eastern Cape ranks fourth in hits and assassinations

WHEN it comes to contract killings, the Eastern Cape has been ranked as the fourth worst in the country.

This is largely due to a spike in taxi-related killings in the province in recent years.

The findings come from a report released by the University of Cape Town yesterday, titled “The Rule of the Gun: Hits and assassinations in South Africa 2000-2017.”

With 1 317 cases recorded over the time period, 158 were reported for the Eastern Cape.

KwaZulu-Natal was the leading province with 527 deaths.

This was followed by Gauteng with 316 and the Western Cape with 184 incidents.

Hits ordered for personal motives tend to be only a small proportion of the total number of contract killings in South Africa.

However, the report includes details of the death of Port Elizabeth school teacher Jayde Panayiotou, who went missing while waiting for a lift to school outside her Kabega Park home on April 21 2015.

Her body was found in KwaNobuhle the next day. Her husband, Christopher, was sentenced to life imprisonment in November.

Researchers from the Centre for Criminology at the university as well as the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime established that the demand for hitmen was highest in the taxi industry.

Most of the assassinations took place in KwaZulu-Natal (40%)‚ followed by Gauteng (24%), the Western Cape (14%) and the Eastern Cape ( 12%).

The report revealed that the izinkabi – assassins who carry out hits in the taxi industry then disappear into the rural obscurity of KwaZulu-Natal – were also the taxi bosses behind the hits.

According to the report‚ izinkabi are sought after by taxi bosses in Gauteng to silence conflicts in the minibus taxi industry.

An incident involving taxi industry hits in East London saw Xolani Mapuma, a taxi boss and member of the Mdantsane East London Taxi Association, being shot dead, execution style, two years ago.

Firearms were used in 83% of hits. In other assassinations, criminals stabbed‚ strangled‚ poisoned‚ beat and bludgeoned their victims‚ and orchestrated car accidents.

Kim Thomas, an analyst at the institute said: “This research is important as it provides both data and analysis on assassinations in South Africa.

“It sheds light on the impact of these assassinations‚ which is far reaching as they undermine South Africa’s democracy‚ judiciary and fair economic competition.”