Durban - An abundance of cash flowing through an unregulated taxi industry had led to the proliferation of izinkabi, or taxi hit men, who were unemployed young men wanting to make easy money through murder, KwaZulu-Natal’s Transport and Community Safety MEC, Willies Mchunu, said on Thursday.
At a press briefing in Durban
Mchunu said police were finding it difficult to infiltrate the hit man “industry” and crack down on the taxi violence.
He said in another age the same kind of people who became hit men would make quick cash through bag snatching, pickpocketing and mugging.
“But with the availability of big cash, criminals have developed skills – and bravery – and entered bank robbery and cash-in-transit heists while others are hit men.”
Mchunu was reacting to an ambush in KwaDukuza this week where a taxi boss and a bodyguard were killed.
The violence spilt into Stanger Hospital where armed security guards forced their way into a ward looking for their client, the taxi boss who had been admitted.
One alleged hit man was arrested.
“It is very lucrative because you just have to kill and there is a lot of money coming into your hands. If you can have a very good plan to kill and not get arrested, then it’s easy money,” Mchunu said.
Police were trying to crack down on the “hit man industry”. But it operated underground and was difficult to track and detect.
He blamed the violence on a “bad business system” which underpinned the taxi industry, which included the unregulated handling of large amounts of cash. “A lot of money does not even go to the bank. It floats around, and to assist those who are collecting cash, hit men are hired.”
He called on taxi operators to regulate the industry and stop the killing.
“As soon as they stop hiring killers it would be the end of this hit man industry.”
He said during December more than 6 000 suspects were arrested for various crimes including murder.
He also appealed for an immediate end to xenophobic attacks in KwaMashu. This was after a foreign-owned tuck shop was torched and its owner was injured.
“We need to get to the bottom of these attacks. We urge the KwaMashu community to ensure that they come to an end. Our teams are on the ground in KwaMashu and are working with those concerned”.
The Mercury