CAPE TOWN, May (ANA) - Two men have been arrested after Western Cape police set up a detective-led task team to probe nine murders and three attempted murders believed to be minibus taxi-related in Cape Town that started late on Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday morning, Western Cape police said.
The two suspects, aged 39 and 45, were arrested in Gugulethu in Cape Town and two unlicensed firearms were seized after a taxi driver was shot at in Wynberg, Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said.
The spate of violence included:
- A man in his 40s was shot dead at 5.45pm In Borcherds Quarry Road, Nyanga;
- A 35-year-old man and a commuter were shot and wounded on the corner of Emms Drive and Terminus Road;
- Shots were fired at about 4pm at a 28-year-old man, but he was not hit, at Murom Road in Wynberg;
- A 43-year-old man was shot dead at 5.05pm in Govan Mbeki Road in Philippi East;
- A 26-year-old man was shot dead at 6.30pm in Ncinciba Street in Luzuko Park in Philippi East;
- A 27-year-old man was shot dead at 7.45pm in Govan Mbeki Road in Lower Cross Roads, Philippi East;
- An unidentified minibus taxi driver was shot dead at 8.10pm at the corner of New Eisleben and Sheffield roads in Philippi East;
- A 40-year-old man was shot dead at 5pm in Govan Mbeki Road in Philippi;
- An unidentified taxi driver was shot dead just after midnight in Luzuko, Philippi East;
- A taxi driver was shot dead in the early hours at Sonwabile Street in Old Cross Roads, Nyanga; and
- Another taxi driver was shot dead in the early hours in Entokozweni Street in Old Cross Roads, Nyanga.
Tactical response and national intervention units teams had been deployed at identified hotspots as reaction forces to complement station deployments. Emergency meetings with roleplayers in the transport sector, the City of Cape Town, traffic services, police, and other law enforcement agencies were underway in an effort to determine the source of the violent incidents.
Police had vowed to clamp down on all taxi-related violence, including the latest cases. Anyone with information about these incidents was requested to contact the police on 08600-10111, Rwexana said.
- African News Agency (ANA),
