Taxi killings plaguing Soshanguve near Pretoria continued on Monday when another two members of the Federated Long Distance Taxi Association (Feldta) were killed by AK-47 gunfire in drive-by shootings.
Inspector Gideon Thessner, police spokesperson for Pretoria, said eight taxi-related assassinations had been reported in the township since Thursday night. The killings were apparently linked to general dissatisfaction with the proposed new smart-card system.
This system involves commuters carrying cards to pay for their fares rather than cash and has been gradually implemented in Soshanguve over the past few months. Taxi drivers are believed to oppose the idea because they will no longer have money to buy food during the day. In addition, many of them are not registered as taxpayers, but once they are on the system, they will have to declare their earnings.
The murder spree started on Thursday night when a Feldta member was killed in Block P.
Violence erupted again on Saturday when a member of the South African Long Distance Taxi Association (Saldta) was shot dead in Block W at 6.30am, followed by the shooting of another Saldta member in Block U at 6.45am.
Two members of Feldta were killed in Block P on Saturday night when they were shot dead by unknown gunmen. At 7am on Sunday, another Saldta member was killed in a drive-by shooting in Block K.
The killings continued with a further two shootings on Monday. A Saldta member was shot dead at 6.30am in block JJ. About 15 minutes later, at the Rietgat taxi rank, another Saldta member was killed in a drive-by shooting.