KZN taxi couple hit in ambush

DURBAN 28.10.2014. TAXI BOSS SHOT DEAD ON KWA MASHU HIGHWAY.

DURBAN 28.10.2014. TAXI BOSS SHOT DEAD ON KWA MASHU HIGHWAY.

Published Oct 28, 2014

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Durban - A man was killed and his wife injured after seven armed assailants on foot ambushed them from bushes along the KwaMashu Highway in Besters.

Sources said that it was believed the driver of the white Toyota twin cab bakkie – who died at the scene – was the victim of an assassination.

The victim was a taxi industry operator.

“Witnesses said that the vehicle was deliberately targeted and when the driver eventually stopped his vehicle, they said that (the gunmen) went right up to his window and started shooting,” a source said.

He said that the incident had taken place at about 7am.

The man’s wife was seriously wounded and taken to hospital.

The shooting had caused chaos on the road, leading to other motorists ploughing into other cars in an effort to get away from the shooting.

The twin cab had hit a silver Toyota Corolla after the shots were fired, leading to the driver of the second car to collide with another vehicle – believed to be a blue BMW or Mercedes-Benz – which sped off.

The Toyota ended up almost skewered on the side of the highway on the metal barrier.

The woman in the Toyota, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, had been travelling from Phoenix to her place of employment in Musgrave.

She told the Daily News that she heard several gunshots before she was hit from behind.

“I looked in the rearview mirror and just saw the bullets flying,” said the traumatised and shaking woman.

The twin cab then hit her from behind repeatedly.

“Every time I was hit, I kept hitting the car in front of me. I was trying to avoid the bullets. I didn’t know what to do,” she said tearfully.

She said that she had lost count of how many times she had been hit, and how many times she had hit the car in front of her.

“It was like a scene out of the Wild West.

“I have never seen anything like that. What if they had shot me?” she said.

She was trapped against the barrier so couldn’t get away.

“I kept my head down and waited for it to pass.

“I just thought that I needed to stay alive for my kids,” she added tearfully.

Major Thulani Zwane, who was at the scene on Tuesday morning, was reluctant to confirm these details, and said the motive for the killing was not known at this stage.

“We know that he is a taxi operator and he was attacked by the gunmen.

“That’s all we know for now. It’s too early to know for sure why this happened,” he said.

He said that no arrests had been made but police were searching the area for the gunmen.

“They are armed so we want to find them fast. Our taxi violence task team has been assigned the case,” he said.

When the Daily News arrived at the scene the victim was still in the vehicle slumped over the passenger seat, covered in blood.

The SAPS forensics and fingerprints teams as well as metro police were on the scene monitoring the situation and collecting evidence.

Metro police spokesman, senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi, said police were still at the scene and that the road remained partially closed.

“It’s an active scene and it will take time to be cleared.”

Many passing motorists stopping to survey the gruesome scene were directed away.

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