Yet another commuter-terrorising minibus taxi surfaces

Yet another minibus taxi was terrorising taxi commuters in the Pretoria North area, police said on Wednesday.

Police spokesperson Sergeant Tsakani Miyen said, this time around, the minibus taxi targeting unsuspecting commuters was a red Toyota Venture.

“The vehicle has four occupants and they are using the same modus operandi as all the other bogus drivers,” she said. The modus operandi entailed luring commuters into the taxi as though it were going to their destination.

However, once in the taxi, the taxi commuters would be robbed of their belongings and even forced to transfer their money to the robbers.

“They rob you at gunpoint, take whatever belongings you have then transfer money into their accounts,” she said. However, Miyen said they had not yet established how exactly the robbers were able to retrieve the money after they forcefully sent it to themselves.

“We want to warn commuters to be very careful when they get into taxis in the area. We advise them to get into taxis that are stationary at common taxi collection points, instead of being in a rush,” she said.

Last month, a widely circulated voice note claimed five passengers had gotten into and subsequently been robbed in a bogus taxi which they boarded in the Soshanguve area.

While Miyen was, at the time, unable to confirm the incident, she called on taxi commuters who had fallen victim to a robbery in a minibus taxi in the Pretoria North or surrounding areas to present themselves to their police station.

This was after two people which were believed to be behind the taxi robberies were arrested. Before the arrest, Miyen warned of two minibus taxis that were terrorising unsuspecting passengers in their policing precinct. In July, she warned commuters to be vigilant of a red Toyota Venture.

In April it was a white Toyota Venture. Both vehicles were said to have four occupants, including the driver, who drove around looking for unsuspecting commuters they could rob.

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