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| Taxi violence thwarts Joburg city centre |
| May 28 2007 at 06:34PM |
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A man was killed and at least nine other people wounded in three separate taxi-related shootings in and around Johannesburg on Monday. "One officer returned fire because there were obviously commuters waiting that were hit." Some of the wounded were believed to be taxi drivers, she said. West of Johannesburg, two taxi drivers were shot and wounded in two separate incidents around noon. The first driver, a 28-year-old man, stopped at the intersection of Hendrik Potgieter and Albert streets on the West Rand when he was attacked, said Captain Siphiwe Ndlovu. "A man who was in another vehicle just opened fire at the taxi at 11.40am." "He was shot in the legs and taken to hospital." Ndlovu said no one else was injured. Twenty minutes later, another taxi driver was shot and wounded in the upper body by two men who were also travelling in a minibus taxi. This happened on the corner of Hendrik Potgieter and Doreen streets. "The driver had also stopped at traffic lights when the two men smashed his taxi window with stones. "When he tried to flee, they fired shots, injuring him in the upper body." He was said to be in a critical condition in hospital. The reason for the shooting in Bree Street was not immediately clear, said Gauteng police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini. "Somebody fired shots and then people were wounded - we don't know who fired those shots." On Monday after the shooting, a member of the Faraday Taxi Association said the Dobsonville-Roodepoort-Leratong-Johannesburg Taxi Association (Dorljota) started "the whole thing". "Faraday taxi drivers were loading passengers when the Dorljota taxis came and blocked the entrance. I just heard gunshots after that but I don't know how it all started." However, Dorljota spokesperson Zeblon Simelane said the Faraday taxi drivers had been blocking them from using the taxi rank since Saturday. "We even resorted to reporting the matter to police at the Johannesburg central police station, asking them to intervene," Simelane said. "We believe Faraday is behind this." A Sapa photographer who was driving past the rank said: "Shots rang out and I saw two taxis' windows shattered and people wounded." An eyewitness, identifying himself only as Oupa, said: "Bang, bang, bang, bang... that's all I heard from the top and I ran away." Taxi driver Solomon Maluleke said he would leave the occupation "today" if he did not have to support his family. "It makes me worry for my own safety...it is totally wrong, innocent people die [in past taxi violence]." Maluleke said he "ran away" as soon as he heard the shots. A 19-year-old Wits University student, who commutes daily from Soweto, said he feared for his life. "I am not going to use taxis anymore. I value my life." Many taxi users were stranded inside the taxi rank as three of the entrances had been closed. There were five taxis within the police cordoned-off area. One had shattered front, back and side windows. Monday's shooting was the second outbreak of violence at the Bree Street taxi rank in recent weeks. Last month, a driver was shot dead and four people wounded at the rank. No arrests had been made in connection with the previous shooting, Dlamini said. - Sapa
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