Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a taxi driver in Durbanville at the weekend – one of several taxi-related killings in the city in recent weeks.
According to police, an unidentified man fired several rounds inside the taxi, killing the driver, as the vehicle was passing the corner of Kendal and Durbanville roads on Saturday morning.
The two passengers in the taxi at the time escaped unharmed.
Durbanville police spokesperson Captain Marchelle Rhode said the motive for the shooting was unclear. The killer is still at large.
“Police will be speaking to the witnesses, as the gunman got into an unidentified car and fled the scene after the shooting,” Captain Rhode said.
This comes amid warring over routes between operators associated with the Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) and the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) in Delft, Nyanga and Khayelitsha that has seen at least 15 deaths in recent weeks.
Police Minister Bheki Cele held talks on Sunday with taxi organisations at the Delft taxi rank – scene of at least 13 deaths in recent weeks – where he said 44 people had died in Western Cape taxi violence so far this year.
Police are also investigating shootings at the Joe Slovo Park taxi rank near Milnerton that left one person dead and seven injured on Tuesday morning last week.
And earlier this month, a taxi boss and a security guard were slain in a drive-by shooting at the Masiphumelele taxi rank near Fish Hoek.
The shooting in Durbanville has the community on edge and commuters who rely on taxis fear for their safety.
Cata in Bellville, which operates the route the dead driver was travelling, said it would wait for the police to conclude their investigation before commenting on the matter.