Yet another taxi operator killed in Pretoria shooting

Pretoria’s deadly taxi industry has seen another violent death as a taxi driver was gunned down in the early hours of Wednesday, Pretoria Rekord reports.

Akasia police spokesperson Constable Lindiwe Mdluli said the latest shooting occurred around 04:50 at the corner of the R566 road and Doreen Avenue in Rosslyn, north of Pretoria.

“An African male was shot while driving a Toyota Quantum,” she said.

Mdluli said that the fatal shots which killed the man were allegedly fired from a Toyota Conquest.

“The two unknown occupants in the Conquest overtook the driver then fired the several shots which killed the driver of the Quantum,” she said.

The driver, who was understood to have been travelling alone, was declared dead at the scene.

“The motive for the shooting is unknown at this stage,” Mdluli said, adding a murder docket was opened for investigation.

This comes days after two other taxi operators were shot and killed in separate incidents in the CBD and Atteridgeville on Friday.

In recent years, several taxi operators have lost their lives in and around Pretoria in what has been described by police as taxi violence.

At the weekend, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela said: “Taxi violence poses a huge threat to the safety and the lives of innocent commuters and it is for this reason that the investigators must urgently deploy all available resources towards apprehending the perpetrators and decisively curbing this violence.”