Image by Flickr
Taxi Violence: Owner, two drivers brutally shot in three days
A taxi boss was brutally gunned down and then two bus drivers were shot and killed in the latest spate of taxi violence in KZN.
Image by Flickr
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni, has condemned the taxi violence in the public transport industry after the gruesome murder of a taxi boss who was gunned down in Pinetown on Saturday.
The Department for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison said in a statement on Tuesday that police investigations had revealed that at around 09:30 in the morning, a black Mercedes Benz had been seen driving driving up Bamboo Lane in Pinetown when assailants travelling in an unknown silver vehicle ambushed the driver.
“Further investigations revealed that a gun battle ensued, and the black Mercedes hit the wall on Windsor Road and the driver, an unidentified 53-year-old African male, was shot by the occupants of the silver vehicle,” the department said.
The driver of the Mercedes sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head and face. Police are investigating a case of murder.
Bus driver siblings shot in Ndwedwe taxi violence
“In a separate incident two siblings, who are bus drivers, were shot and killed in Ndwedwe on Monday afternoon, a month after their boss, owner of Injabuliso Bus Service was murdered in oThongathi,” the department said.
“According to reports it was alleged that two bus drivers, aged 36 and 38, were shot and declared dead at the scene while injured passengers were taken to hospital for medical attention.
The suspects are believed to have fled in a silver Toyota Etios. The registration plates were removed. The case of murder is opened pending further investigations,” the department added.
Nkonyeni condemned the killing of the victims as barbaric.
“We strongly condemn this brutal act and have called on the police to move swiftly with the investigation to ensure that they arrest the heartless killers. The perpetrators will to face the full might of the law. We take a firm stance against crime generally. On behalf of the provincial government, I wish to send my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” Nkonyeni said.
