Five taxi drivers were arrested in Johannesburg’s Parktown area on Wednesday after allegedly shooting at the city’s metro police, who had arrested another four drivers at a roadblock in Hillbrow, north of the city centre.
The five drivers will face charges of attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice. The other four, who have unpaid traffic fines, were arrested for not appearing in court, metro police spokesperson Inspector Edna Mamonyane said.
She said the aim of the shooting, which began at the corner of Empire Road and Clarendon Place, was probably to scare away the metro police.
The shooting apparently continued until the drivers and the metro police had reached the corner of Houghton Drive and Carse O’Gowrie Drive near the Johannesburg hospital.
Taxi clashes on South Coast
Meanwhile, about 60 people will be charged with public violence following clashes between two taxi associations in Port Shepstone on Wednesday morning, police said.
Two taxi drivers were shot and a number of commuters injured in a taxi accident during a fight between the Bambanani and Gamalakhe associations, Superintendent Zandra Hechter said.
The dispute began when one association prevented another from using a rank in the South Coast town, so a group of taxi men got into a taxi with passengers already in it and began chasing a group from the other association, Hechter said.
The chase was taken to the main South Coast freeway and one of the taxis overturned, injuring a number of people on board, not seriously.
Meanwhile, at the rank, a fight had broken out between the two associations. Two drivers were shot and had to be rushed to the Port Shepstone hospital, Hechter said.
A huge police convoy rushed to the scene and, said Hechter, about 60 people were taken to the town’s police station and would appear in court later on Wednesday on public-violence charges.
In addition, one person was arrested for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm, and two unlicensed firearms were found by police.
The area was cordoned off to allow police to defuse the situation and control the area. — Sapa