MBOMBELA – This follows after several commuters had fallen victim to armed robbers pretending to be taxi operators. According to one of the victims, Sydwell Sambo, he was robbed on his way home to Mahushu.

“We hitch-hiked on the R40 next to the Tiger Wheel traffic lights last Tuesday evening. There were four of us. When we boarded the taxi, there were already three men and two women inside. The driver picked up people on the R40 as normal, until we passed White River. He drove to the bush just after Premier Hotel The Winkler. The original passengers (three men and two women) pointed firearms at us and instructed everyone to give them all their bags and cellphones.

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“After robbing us they told us to run and not to look back while they drove off towards Hazyview, leaving us stranded on the side of the road. We were lucky that we were unharmed,” said Sambo.

He claims that five of the victims ran to the Mondi compound where they were assisted by security guards and got a lift to Dayizenza Plaza. Tebogo Mokoena, who works at a restaurant in Hazyview and resides in Marite, said a similar incident happened to her and her colleagues last Thursday at 21:00.

They were on their way home when the taxi they had boarded took a wrong turn to Graskop instead of driving on the R40 to Bushbuckridge. She said the driver and three male accomplices stopped in the middle of the road and assaulted them, before robbing them of their belongings.

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“Two of my colleagues who had jumped out of the window in an attempt to escape the criminals were badly injured. We did not lay charges with the police. After all, it will be useless, because it has happened before and the taxi association assisted us by catching the minibus.”

The Ehlanzeni Santaco public relations officer, Muntu Gama, said the matter had been reported to it and it will investigate and make sure that these criminals are brought to book. He warns passengers to rather always use the taxi rank close to where they work for their safety.

“Our taxis have stickers and they all have registration numbers. Taxis to and from Mbombela and Hazyview have White Hazy stickers, and KaBokweni, Lekazi, Pienaar and local taxis have Top Star stickers. People must avoid minibuses without number plates,” he said.