FREE State Premier Winkie Direko has expressed shock at the arrest of the speaker of the province’s legislature on murder charges, SABC radio news reported on Sunday. Joe Mafereka was arrested on Saturday at Johannesburg International Airport by members of the Special Investigation Unit on murder charges related to taxi violence in 1989. Before joining the legislature in 1994, Mafereka was chairman of Thabong Taxi Association, one of the most powerful taxi bodies in the Free State Goldfields. He became the speaker of the legislature in 1998 after succeeding Reverend Motlalepule Chabaku who was laid off due to ill health. Mafereka is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Monday.