Alex Matlala

Alex Matlala

Prominent Limpopo taxi boss Chango Raolane has been shot dead.

He was gunned down in his bedroom in a suspected hit linked to ongoing taxi violence that has claimed several lives over the past few months.

The attack happened a few minutes after Raolane returned from work - at about 10pm on Monday. Raolane, who operated his businesses in and around Tzaneen, was shot repeatedly in his house at Moleketla village in Bolobedu.

Police spokesman Superintendent Mohale Ramatseba said the killers broke into the house and opened fire, killing him instantly.

Raolane, a former teacher at Kgwekgwe High School in Tzaneen, died a few months after his son, who, together with four other friends, died in a car accident near Morutji village.

The ongoing taxi violence in Limpopo's Mopani district could not be ruled out as a possible reason for Raolane's killing.

Two taxi owners in the same area were killed in June and September. Last month, Amos Mhlanga, a Giyani bus and taxi owner, was gunned down in his house a few minutes after returning from work.

In June, another taxi owner from GaNtata village near Mokwakwaila, Michael Malatji, was gunned down, also after returning from work.

In Relela village, about 3km from Moleketla, Matome Maake was shot at a garage, while his fellow taxi owner, Cap Ramaselela of Marirone village was shot and killed in Lenyenye.

Roads and transport department spokesman Boiki Tsedu said the eradication of taxi violence "was on top of the department's agenda".