Cape Town traffic cops attacked at petrol station by group from 6 taxis

People in six taxis attacked the car of two traffic officers at a busy filling station on Koeberg Road in Cape Town on Thursday, City traffic spokesperson Richard Coleman said.

It was the second attack by a taxi driver on traffic officers in a week.

“The officers had stopped at a garage in Koeberg Road, when the suspects pulled up in the vehicles that had the number plates removed,” he said.

“They started attacking the patrol car, damaging the bonnet, door and mirror. The officer in the vehicle was unharmed.

“The attackers then tried to get to his colleague inside the shop, but the staff locked the door, and the suspects then damaged the door trying to get in.”

A group of between 20 to 30 children had also been stoning vehicles at Freedom Way, with injuries reported, as well as damage to several cars.

Coleman said access to Freedom Way, past the Caltex garage, and Omuramba Road from Racecourse Road had been closed earlier, with access to Joe Slovo initially closed, but later reopened.

Police spokesperson Siyabulela Malo said that earlier, on nearby Potsdam Road, about 60 people had gathered in the street in Dunoon, a few kilometres up from Koeberg Road, and burnt tyres on the road, in what appears to be an unrelated protest.

That situation has been stabilised.

Coleman said the people who attacked the traffic officers’ vehicle had run away afterwards.

The City’s traffic service plans to lay charges with the police and get video footage, in the hopes of identifying the attackers.

He said that this was the second such attack in the area in the space of a week.

Last Thursday, just before 17.00pm, two traffic officers were attacked by a taxi driver during an operation in the area.

It is not clear yet whether there is any link between these incidents and the shooting of a man at about 07.30am at E38 Ekuphumleni informal settlement in Dunoon.

Malo said that a 25-year-old man had been found shot at his business in Dunoon. He later died at a medical facility due to his injuries.

Three men had entered his shop and demanded an undisclosed amount of cash, three cellphones and tobacco, according to police.

They ran away after the shooting. Police are investigating.

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