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Four taxi drivers killed at Faraday rank

Motive is still unknown as investigation is ongoing

File photo.
File photo.
Image: Masi Losi

Four taxi drivers were killed and three others injured after unknown men randomly opened fire at the taxi rank in Faraday, downtown Johannesburg.

Police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Sello said the shooting happened about 5pm on Wednesday and investigations have begun.

“No suspects have been arrested and the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident are unknown at this stage as investigation continues.

“Police appeal to anyone who may have information about these incidents to please contact the Crime Stop Line at 08600 10111 or anonymously report tip-offs on MySaps app. All information received will be treated as strictly confidential,” Sello said.

The drivers that were shot at belong to Witwatersrand African Taxi Association (WATA).

The killing of four people takes the death toll of those murdered in taxi violence to five this week. On Monday, a taxi driver was gunned down and a passenger wounded in Soweto in the early hours of the morning. Again, the motive for the killing is unknown and police have started their investigations.

Taxi killings have remained a problem in Gauteng for a very long time, mainly due to fights over profitable routes.

This forced the provincial government to establish a commission of inquiry which was led by Justice Jeremiah Shongwe in 2020.

The commission found that taxi associations are not regulated in the province. It found that associations control who get to join them and allow taxi owners without operating licences to join them.

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