- Taxi bosses in the Nyanga area are scavenging for answers amid ongoing attacks on their members.
- On Saturday 10 February, at 08:07, a Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) driver was ambushed while driving at the corner of Sheffield and Moonwood drive in Browns Farm, Philippi. The motive for the killing is unknown.
- A 39-year-old woman believed to be the wife of a late taxi boss was shot and killed on the same evening.
Taxi bosses in the Nyanga area are scavenging for answers amid ongoing attacks on their members.
On Saturday 10 February, at 08:07, a Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) driver was ambushed while driving at the corner of Sheffield and Moonwood drive in Browns Farm, Philippi. The motive for the killing is unknown.
Meanwhile, a 39-year-old woman believed to be the wife of a late taxi boss was shot and killed on the same evening, at the corner of Klipfontein Road and Ntlangano Crescent, while driving her vehicle.
Provincial police spokespersons confirmed the shootings to City Vision.
Capt FC van Wyk said after the first incident Nyanga police registered a murder case following a shooting incident at the corner of Sheffield and Moonwood drive in Browns Farm, Philippi.
“According to reports, police were called out to a shooting incident at the address where they found the body of a 20-year-old male lying on the driver’s side with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. The motive seems to be possibly taxi related,” said Van Wyk, adding that circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
Sharing light on the woman’s murder, Sgt Wesley Twigg, another spokesperson from the provincial police, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting of a woman at the corner of Ntlangano Crescent and Klipfontein Road in Nyanga, were under investigation.
Twigg said the 39-year-old female was shot and fatally wounded while driving her vehicle. He said Nyanga police attended the crime scene where they found the victim with gunshot wounds to her body.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel. The motive for the attack forms part of the police investigation. The suspect/s fled the scene and are yet to be arrested,” said Twigg.
However, Nkululeko Sityebi, the spokesperson for the CATA, could not confirm or deny whether the woman was linked to the association, adding that he did not receive any reports about the incident.
Responding to the other incident, Sityebi admitted that their members, who operate between Nyanga and Cape Town, were under siege. He described the attacks as disturbing and appealed for a halt and an open dialogue around any underlying issues that could potentially fuel the conflict.
Sityebi dismissed the rumours of infighting among CATA drivers as baseless. “There is a problem among the taxi operators operating from Nyanga to Cape Town. Most drivers under attack are on that route, but we don’t know who is attacking our members. It is almost a month now and our drivers are getting shot on that route,” said Sityebi.
Nyanga CPF secretary Dumisani Qwebe said they were disturbed by the shooting of a woman. He said the deceased was a well-known woman. “It was alleged that the deceased’s husband was a taxi owner and he was gunned down at the beginning of the year. She was still wearing an izila,” said Qwebe, adding that the deceased was shot multiple times.
He stated that shooting is becoming a norm in Nyanga and urged the community to work with the police to try to bring the culprits to book.
Anyone with information is requested to call Crime Stop on 086 001 0111.