One of the suspects who allegedly strangled the Uber driver. Image: Michael Sun/Twitter
A taxi cab driver was strangled and almost killed in Johannesburg today.
Uber, however, has said they have no record of the driver (update added 6 November).
The Johannesburg metro police department officers were on patrol near Eloff and Marshall streets in the city when they saw three people fighting inside a vehicle.
They quickly responded, according to Johannesburg MMC for public safety Michael Sun.
Sun said the driver, after he was rescued from the attack, told officers that one of the men strangled him with a belt in an effort to rob him of his phone.
The suspects wanted money and the driver’s phone.
The third suspect managed to escape.
Meanwhile, in Pretoria, an Uber driver faces a charge of murder after he fatally stabbed a meter taxi driver who had hijacked him and demanded money at the weekend.
Police spokesperson Captain Augustinah Selepe said the stabbing came after the Uber driver was allegedly pepper-sprayed by the meter taxi drivers.
During the altercation, another Uber driver was also stabbed and was taken to hospital. The wounded meter taxi driver died at the scene.
“The Uber driver was arrested and charged with murder. His friend, another Uber driver, was taken to hospital and has been discharged. The meter taxi drivers were charged with car hijacking,” Selepe said.
The matter was provisionally withdrawn for further investigation when the Uber driver and a meter taxi driver appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday, according to Selepe.
(Compiled by Gopolang Chawane)
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