OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 11.00pm.
FEARS of a full-scale taxi war in Kwazulu-Natal have risen after a prominent taxi boss was gunned down as he chatted to a friend in the street of Mpumalanga town on Tuesday.
Maxwell Mata was allegedly assassinated because he was a key witness in a murder trial involving taxi bosses from rival camps in Kwazulu-Natal’s Mpumalanga Taxi Association.
About 10.30am on Tuesday Mata was leaning against his imported 4×4 talking to a friend when two men approached on foot and opened fire on him. According to witnesses, Mata tried to jump into his 4×4 but fell to the ground and was shot again.
Mpumalanga station commissioner Casper Coetzee said that after shooting Mata the two gunmen fled towards a getaway car which police believe was parked nearby. He said 9mm pistols were used in the assassination.
Mata’s killing follows closely on the Sunday afternoon assassination of Department of Transport taxi training co-ordinator, James Sikhakhane, 36.
Senior officials in the department confirmed that there was a strong indication that Sikhakhane was a victim of taxi violence.