CAPE TOWN - A man alleged to be responsible for the murders of four people after a shooting at a taxi rank appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Mbongeni Songo, 41, is charged with four counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Three people died on the scene and another was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries.
On Wednesday last week, Simphiwe Mpume, Mkululi Mkhosana, Anga Mkhosana and Asanda Sipondo were gunned down at the Joe Slovo taxi rank in Milnerton just after 9am.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Eric Ntabazalila, confirmed Songo’s appearance and the charges against him.
Ntabazalila said the matter has been postponed until October 4, as Songo will be bringing a formal bail application before the court.
Provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa said Songo was arrested on Monday.
“The suspect, from the Nyanga area, was arrested by detectives from the Provincial Taxi Violence Unit who also seized a firearm during the arrest. Three people were killed on the scene and a fourth victim died in hospital after sustaining serious gunshot wounds during the shooting incident,” Potelwa said.
She said indications at the crime scene were that the shooting is linked to conflict within the taxi industry.
There has been ongoing taxi conflict in the Western Cape for months, just as the dust settled, with the main taxi associations – the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association and Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations – along with the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, reaching agreement to work together.
Earlier this year, MEC of Transport and Public Works Daylin Mitchell closed routes and ranks due to the violence.