Lerato Mbhiza
Nine suspects have been nabbed by the police following the deaths of three people as a result of a taxi violence-related shootout in the Eastern Cape.
The victims were shot at a taxi rank in Port St Johns on Tuesday morning, with three minibus taxis being torched. Five other people were injured during the incident.
According to the provincial South African Police Service (Saps), there has been tensions between two rival taxi associations from Port St Johns and Lusikisiki.
“In the ensuing attack, an 11-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet and was taken to hospital for treatment. Three vehicles were torched. Multi-disciplinary forces are on the ground,” Eastern Cape police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said in a statement.
Naidu confirmed that a total of nine suspects have been arrested. “Police will remain in the area until the situation stabilises,” she continued.
Eastern Cape police commissioner Nomthetheleli Mene has urged feuding taxi associations to work together and “find amicable solutions to their ongoing disagreements, which are now culminating into tragic violence where lives have been lost”.
Mene vehemently condemned such criminal behaviour.
“Such lawlessness will not be tolerated, as innocent lives are at risk. We immediately call on all stakeholders to come forward and engage in constructive discussions and urgently find a solution so as to avoid further loss of lives,” the provincial commissioner added.
The Deputy Secretary and the Organizer for Business Forum in Port St Johns, Mbongeni Kotana confirmed that businesses were forced to shut down, and learners who were on their way to school were forced to go back home due the violence.
INSIDE POLITICS