THURSDAY, 7.00PM:
THREE people were killed and one injured on Thursday afternoon in a taxi that was attacked between Libode and Umtata in Transkei, while three people were injured in a taxi-related shooting in Mamelodi near Pretoria. Three people have been arrested in connection with the Mamelodi incident.
Police in Mamelodi fired teargas and stun grenades to keep warring factions apart after the shooting, and are maintaining a strong presence in the area, which has been cordoned off. Three people have been arrested. The provincial government earlier ordered Mamelodi’s Denneboom taxi rank indefinitely closed.
THURSDAY, 12.45PM:
THOUSANDS of commuters were left stranded on Thursday morning as the Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association (Mata), which on Wednesday protested in Pretoria against unsafe working conditions, embarked on a work stoppage to protest violence.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a taxi driver was shot dead and five people injured in violence related to the protest.
A 34-year-old Mamelodi taxi driver was shot dead by a pedestrian, who ran up to his taxi at an intersection in Stormvol Road, and shot him in the chest before running away. Earlier in the afternoon, another taxi driver who is a member of Mata was driving away from the protest at the Union Buildings in Pretoria when a car with three occupants forced his taxi off the road. The attackers dragged Frans Mokoa from his vehicle and shot him in the head before speeding off. He is in a critical condition in hospital.
Also on Wednesday evening, a taxi driver affiliated to the South African Long Distance Taxi Association (Saldta) was shot in a shoulder and his passenger in the head in a drive-by shooting. The car occupants used AK47 assault rifles.
Less than 15 minutes later, two bystanders were shot with 9mm pistols at the Transfer taxi rank when gumen failed to hit the taxi they were targeting.
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