‘The murder of 13 taxi drivers was a mistake’
A total of 13 taxi men were shot and killed in an ambush by unknown gunmen on the R74 between Colenso and Weenen while returning from a funeral of taxi owner, Nkosi Mthembu on 21 July last year. Eleven people who were shot, died at the scene while two succumbed to their wounds in hospital. About 250 cartridges were found. Taxi drivers attending the memorial service who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity claimed that the death of their colleagues was a big mistake. Lebogang Skosana, a sister to one of the deceased, Bafana Skosana, said her brother was going to turn 25 on 30 July. “He was still so young and never violent. He was friendly and liked laughing. He joined the taxi industry in 2016 and used it to make a living for himself.”
Taxi association party ends in bloodshed
A year-end party organised by the Ivory Park Taxi Association on 8 December ended in bloodshed after an employee was fatally wounded and two other residents hit by stray bullets. It is alleged that a member of a taxi association patrol squad went outside the venue near Kopanong Shopping Centre to answer the phone. While answering the call, he was shot multiple times by unknown gunmen. A spokesperson for The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) Thabisho Molelekwa condemned the incident and revealed that it had nothing to do with the association or the taxi industry.
Midrand man robbed at gunpoint by former colleague on New Road N1 offramp
Officers of Midrand Police Station arrested two suspects for an armed robbery that took place on 4 June 2018 at about 9.30pm near the New Road N1 offramp in Midrand.
According to the police, the complainant claimed he was stopped by a BMW fitted with blue lights and decided to pull over on the side of the road.
Midrand police spokesperson Sergeant Matome Tlamela said, “He was allegedly accosted by two armed men carrying firearms. They searched his vehicle and took an amount of R130 000 underneath the driver’s seat.
“The complainant identified one of the suspects as his former colleague.”
Woman robbed and killed after affair with married man, life imprisonment for two suspects
After a five-year-long trial, two men were sentenced in the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, on 10 April 2018 to life imprisonment plus 15 years for a murder and house robbery committed in 2013 on Summit Road, Midrand. According to the Midrand police spokesperson Sergeant Matome Tlamela, “Five years ago a woman was killed and robbed of her cell phone after she was involved in an affair with a married man.
“Apparently, the man’s wife found out that her husband was having an affair and sent two men to scare him so he would end the affair, but the victim was found in the house alone without her lover, the husband.
“The two men then decided to kill the woman and steal from her.”
Robbery at filling station on Christmas Eve
Midrand police launched a manhunt in December for two male suspects who robbed a filling station in Halfway Gardens. According to Midrand police’s Constable Thabiso Selowa, on 24 December, the suspects, driving a white Chevrolet vehicle, arrived at the filling station at around 9.30pm asking for assistance for tyre pressure. While a petrol attendant filled the tyres with air, the suspects, armed with a firearm, jumped out of the vehicle and forced the petrol attendant into the filling station store. Inside the store, they robbed customers of their cell phones and money.
