Update: Mass shooting on the N11 near Ladysmith – 11 dead, taxi boss named

Police have confirmed that the senior official of the Klipriver Taxi Association (KTA) who was killed in a brutal ambush this morning outside Ladysmith was the deputy chairperson of the KTA, Mr Ngobese, Ladysmith Gazette reports.

Also killed in the ambush were 10 other people.

This morning, (October 31) at around 7am, Mr Ngobese, a no-nonsense taxi boss of the old school, was travelling in a Nissan bakkie on the Matiwaneskop road with other four occupants (believed to be his bodyguards), when two vehicles allegedly fired shots at them with assault rifles.

The driver of the Nissan bakkie lost control of the vehicle and crashed into an oncoming taxi.

Mr Ngobese and the private security guards were fatally shot.

READ MORE: 11 dead in mass shooting on the N11 near Ladysmith

Five people in the taxi died in the crash (on scene) and other taxi occupants were seriously injured. Paramedics stabilised the injured before transporting them to hospital.

Ladysmith Provincial Hospital PRO Thabo Sithole has confirmed that a woman who was critically injured has passed away in hospital. Two other occupants are in a stable condition.

A docket of five counts of murder and six counts of culpable homicide was opened at Elangslaagte police station and it will be transferred to the Provincial Taxi Task Team for investigation.

The motive of the attack is subject to an ongoing investigation.

“Such violent attacks cannot be tolerated in our province. Our detectives are on their toes, working to solve the case. Serious and violent crimes are treated with the upmost importance to maintain the safety of our citizens,” said the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa.

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11 dead in mass shooting on the N11 near Ladysmith

– Caxton News Service