Durban - A Phoenix taxi owner and self-confessed drug dealer was shot dead on Sunday night in a drive-by shooting outside his home.
His seven-year-old son and 11-year-old nephew were also injured. Vernon John, 33, was parked outside his home in Southbury Avenue at the time of the shooting.
Glen Naidoo from KZN VIP posted the news on the Phoenix Crime Watch Facebook page.
Police confirmed the incident.
Ward councillor Tino Pillay wants police to intervene to avoid a festive season drug war.
“We cannot continue into the new year with the same problems. Drug dealing and consumption is taking a turn for the worse. We don’t want innocent residents to get caught in this war. Several NGOs tried fighting this drug scourge by engaging with law enforcement on a higher level. The police are arresting the small peddlers but not getting to the source,” said Pillay.
In May 2015, John admitted in court to being a drug dealer. He claimed in papers filed in the high court in Durban that the drug war was the reason he and his cousin and another passenger were ambushed in their car in Goodhaven Circle in 2015.
John and two men he allegedly hired also faced charges of conspiracy to murder.