Taxi pair assaults passenger over fare

On the 12 June, a taxi driver and his assistant were remanded in custody at the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court pending further investigation for allegedly assaulting a passenger with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The incident was prompted by a dispute over a taxi fare the pair claimed hadn’t been paid by one of their passengers. The victim boarded their taxi, a Toyota Quantum, in Hillbrow, bound for Alex late in the afternoon on 29 April. There were other passengers in the taxi, as well.

At Orange Grove the pair told the passengers that one of them hadn’t paid the R11 fare but they couldn’t say who it was as passengers were climbing in and off, in the process.

To avoid an argument, the victim paid the amount. When he asked to be dropped off at Savoy, the pair allegedly refused and told him they wanted to teach him a lesson. When all other passengers had evacuated the taxi, the driver’s assistant moved next to the victim, took off his shoe and hit him with it in the face multiple times as the taxi drove around in Alex.

In some instances, the driver is said to have stopped the vehicle and joined his colleague in assaulting the victim. They demanded R500 from the victim, which he didn’t have but promised to pay if they took him to his place. They took R27 from his pockets and drove to his place in Bramley.

At the gate, they forced him out and continued to beat and kick him while on the ground. A security guard driving past saw them chasing the victim and alerted the police who came and arrested them.

In mitigation, the suspect’s claimed the victim was a friend they were playing around with.