Seven in court as police crack down on Paarl taxi violence

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said officers attached to police in the Paarl suburb of Mbwekweni, the Public Order Police and Winelands cluster police had been investigating claims that some taxi drivers and guards kept firearms to shoot at rival taxi operators.

After information the investigators received on Friday, they arrested the seven on charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition at a taxi rank in Wamkelekile, Mbwekweni.

They conducted searches at the taxi rank and found two 9mm firearms (one with a serial number and the other filed off), magazines and ammunition in one of the taxis.

Eight cellphones were also confiscated.

Two people were shot dead in a taxi in Paarl on February 25.

The Toyota Quantum had two occupants and was travelling on Pinzi Street at around 12:45 when unidentified people in a taxi shot at the vehicle, said Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana at the time.

Two men in their 30s were killed.

The week before that 41-year-old taxi owner Nkosiyabo Mhobo was shot dead in Mbwekweni, according to the Paarl Post.

It was also reported that three taxi drivers were killed in January, with taxi violence rife over the past few months.

The province’s transport MEC, Bonginkosi Madikizela, and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula have been engaged in talks to defuse the situation, which appears to centre around route rivalry.

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