KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda viewing wreckage of Mini Bus following a brutal killing of 11 males - PHOTO: Supplied
A surge in taxi killings that has claimed at least 15 lives so far is believed to be a string of revenge attacks caused by a dispute over the Mall of Africa route, The Sowetan has reported.
On Tuesday, the Citizen reported that a mass taxi shooting that took place in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on Saturday had claimed 12 lives.
Eleven people were declared dead at the scene, with a 12th person who was in a critical condition passing away on Tuesday morning in hospital.
The attack saw unknown gunmen use high-powered rifles, firing more than 200 shots into a Toyota Quantum taxi that was travelling along the Colenso and Weenen roads.
The group travelling in the vehicle, which is reported to have been sprayed with at least 250 bullets, was reportedly returning from the funeral of Ivory Park Taxi Association member Nkosi Mthembu.
While the attack occured in KZN, the Ivory Park Taxi Association is based in Midrand, leading to suspicions that the attack in KZN is related to taxi disputes taking place in Gauteng.
READ MORE: Death toll rises to 12 in mass KZN taxi shooting
MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Mxolisi Kaunda advanced that theory yesterday, saying: “There are strong indications, however, that this incident is related with taxi conflict in Gauteng.”
This speculation seems to be corroborated by information from a police insider, who told The Sowetan that the killings were revenge attacks over the Mall of Africa route, which is worth a lot of money to taxi bosses.
According to the source, rival taxi owners and drivers had come to a truce over the route. They signed a ‘peace deal’ in September despite not having come to an agreement regarding the route dispute.
“The truce came at a price after more than 10 taxi operators and innocent commuters were killed around Midrand.”
Despite the truce, the insider believes that the recent KZN shooting was a revenge attack for these earlier killings.
“We suspect the recent killings are revenge attacks because we are not aware of any ongoing taxi route disputes,” said the source.
On Monday, a taxi boss belonging to the Alexandra, Randburg, Midrand and Sandton Taxi Association (Armsta) was shot and killed while leaving the house of a relative in a vehicle marked with the association’s logo, in an incident also thought by sources to be linked to the Mall of Africa route dispute.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.