The ongoing violence in the local minibus taxi industry reached a new low this week.

At 10:00 on October 31, two unknown men approached commuters waiting for transport at the Carletonville Taxi Rank.

Speaking isiZulu, they asked bystanders who was driving a taxi belonging to the Carletonville Local and Long-Distance Taxi Association (CALLDTA). When the driver (29) stepped forward, the men asked him to open the bonnet of his taxi.

The men then fired several shots into the vehicle’s engine, pointed a firearm at the driver, and also shot out the tyres before fleeing in an unknown vehicle.

Police suspect this attack was only a warning for what followed later that day.

At approximately 20:20, passengers were seated in taxis preparing to travel to Bloemfontein and the Eastern Cape when three unknown men opened fire at the parked taxis.

Two commuters were killed, while nine injured passengers were taken to Carletonville and the Fountain Private Hospital with wounds to their chests, arms, and legs.

Two of the targeted taxis belonged to the Carletonville United Taxi Association (CUTA), and one to CALLDTA.

“We are very concerned because none of the people who were hit are taxi owners or drivers. They were innocent passengers attacked by violent and greedy criminals,” a senior police officer told the Herald.

These crimes are believed to have resulted from a dispute over preferential treatment: which taxis get to load passengers first.

Two cases of murder and nine of attempted murder are being investigated by the police’s taxi violence unit.

The police are also investigating charges of malicious damage to property, illegal possession and discharge of a firearm, and the pointing of a firearm in a municipal area.