Taxi driver shot dead, passenger injured

Mystery over the Soweto highway shooting

A taxi driver was gunned down and a passenger wounded in Soweto in the early hours yesterday.

Police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Sello said at about 5.25am officers attended to a shooting scene on the Soweto Highway.

“Police found a 48-year-old taxi driver reportedly shot dead and one passenger taken to hospital with a gunshot wound.

“No suspects have been arrested and the circumstances surrounding the incident are unknown at this stage as investigation continues,” said Sello.

Police are investigating a case of murder and attempted murder.

Taxi killings have remained a problem in Gauteng for a very long time, mainly due to fights over profitable routes.

This forced the provincial government to establish a commission of inquiry which was led by Justice Jeremiah Shongwe in 2020.

The commission found that taxi associations are not regulated in the province. It found that associations control who get to join them and allow taxi owners without operating licences to join them.

Taxi associations also have become a law unto themselves, with bosses avoiding to call elections fearing that they will be voted out.

Shongwe recommended that there be one association per town or township. But despite the work of the commission, taxi killings have persisted.

In February, the SA National Taxi Council in Tshwane activated a “peace force” team to monitor the Bosman and Jerusalem ranks at Marabastad after two taxi drivers were gunned down in Gauteng.

The taxi drivers, belonging to the Santaco-affiliated Johannesburg, Pretoria, Mabopane Transport (JPM) taxi association, were gunned down in full view of passengers.

The two shooting incidents happened in the morning and evening of February 25 while the vehicles were travelling between Johannesburg and Pretoria.