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An Eastern Cape taxi boss was shot outside the East London offices of the Provincial Transport Department on Thursday, following a meeting that included MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe.
The daylight attack on Gabs Mtshala, a “high-ranking” official in the SA National Taxi Association, SANTACO, has prompted the MEC to call for calm and peaceful engagements.
She said there has been a “worrisome flurry of hits’ on the taxi bosses in the province, with Mtshala’s shooting being the latest.
Tikana said he was wounded moments after he and other taxi bosses concluded a meeting with her and top officials at the Department’s Vincent offices.
She said they had called the meeting to inform her and the Department of an interim Santaco Committee that was instituted following the resignation of the body’s provincial chairperson and secretary.
The MEC said she had raised serious concerns about the increase in the number of “hits on prominent figures within the industry in the province.”
Tikana-Gxotiwe called on anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of these hits, to work with the police in solving these cases.
She also wished Mtshala a speedy and full recovery, while extending her condolences to all the families who lost their loved ones in the ongoing taxi conflict.
