Taxi-linked murder spree rages on in KwaZulu-Natal
Hitmen are much more organised than the police. These are the words of KwaZulu-Natal violence researcher Mary de Haas following the murder of five people in three separate drive-by shootings on Thursday, two in Tongaat on the north coast of the province, and one in Amanzimtoti in the south.
The hits in Tongaat were allegedly related to taxi violence and an attempt to “take out” a taxi boss.
According to De Haas, access to illegal firearms is a contributing factor to the increasing number of hits in KwaZulu-Natal.
She said the majority of the murders were carried out by hired hitmen who, in most cases, used stolen vehicles and firearms.
“It all boils down to crime — if you get away with it once you will continue to do it, and the criminals are much more organised than our police. The crime intelligence in the country is in shambles. There isn’t proper management and there are irregular appointments in the police,” she said.
IPSS Medical Rescue, which attended the scene in Tongaat, said two people were declared dead on scene while one person was stabilised and transported to a nearby facility.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa’s (Rusa) Tongaat Operations, which also attended both scenes in Tongaat, the first incident took place at the Golden Sun supermarket on Gopalall Hurbans Road.
There, reaction officers discovered a stationary white VW Polo at the intersection, which was riddled with bullet holes.
Two men in the car sustained multiple gunshot wounds and were declared dead by paramedics.
“A female passenger was treated for an injury to her head,” according to Rusa spokesperson, Prem Balram.
Balram said they were believed to be victims of mistaken identity, but this has not been confirmed.
While busy treating the gunshot victim at the first scene, IPSS Medical Rescue received reports of another drive-by shooting approximately four kilometres away, on the R614.
When paramedics arrived at the scene they found three people with gunshot wounds in a car.
“One person from the second scene sustained serious injuries and another sustained critical injuries,” said IPSS spokesperson Samantha Meyrick.
According to Balram, the vehicle had been shot at multiple times using high-calibre weapons.
The three occupants were fatally injured. They were in possession of high-calibre weapons. It was confirmed that they were security officers.
According to Balram, while attending to the scene, a white Mercedes Benz arrived and the driver told Rusa officers that one of his passengers had been shot.
It was confirmed that a taxi boss was the target of the assassins. His passenger was a security officer tasked with his protection.
“They were travelling in a white Toyota Corolla when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle and his security escort. The taxi boss then abandoned his vehicle on the R614. The injured man was treated for a gunshot injury to his hand,” he said.
In the third shooting incident, a woman and a man were wounded in Amanzimtoti when the vehicle they were travelling in was shot at, reportedly by an unknown number of suspects who were travelling in two vehicles on the N2 Athlone Park off-ramp.
The suspects reportedly fled the scene after the shooting. The motive for the attack remains unknown.
The two victims were rushed to hospital for treatment. The man who was shot is believed to be the owner of a security company.
The police are yet to comment on Thursday’s incidents.
On Tuesday, two taxi bosses were gunned down in Berea.
Reports indicate that the two were seated inside a taxi when two gunmen, armed with a rifle and a pistol, fired shots at them.
“The motive for the shooting has not yet been confirmed, but taxi-related violence cannot be ruled out. The suspects are reported to have fled the scene in a silver Polo sedan,” said KZN police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda.
This article was first published in The Witness.