A second taxi-related killing took place on Saturday at Jan van Riebeeck Road opposite the Dal Josafat Athletics Stadium in Paarl.
It comes after the chairperson of the Codeta-Paarl Taxi Alliance (Pata), Siyabulela Mandyoli, 52, was murdered this past Tuesday in front of his Paarl house after returning from the rank.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the detectives from the Provincial Serious and Violent Crime: Taxi Violent Unit have been assigned to probe the latest shooting.
“Paarl East police registered a murder case. According to reports on Saturday at 8.45am, SAPS members attended an incident of shooting at Jan van Riebeeck Road opposite the stadium, where they were informed over radio about a person who had been shot.
“The members found the deceased sitting in the car with a gunshot wound to the head. Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation,” he explained.
MEC for Mobility, Ricardo Mackenzie, said the deceased was a Cata-affiliated taxi driver.
It is feared that the latest round of violence is linked to the dispute over the lucrative B97 route between Mbekweni in Paarl and Bellville.
“I am infuriated by this second violent minibus taxi-related crime in the area this week, which threatens commuters, the minibus taxi and public transport industry more broadly.
“We must get to the bottom of this situation to ensure the violence doesn’t spiral out of control. To this end, there are enhanced deployments by the various law enforcement agencies in Mbekweni, surrounding areas and at the Bellville public transport interchange,” he said.
Mackenzie has been engaging with Santaco leadership and has requested priority meetings with the SAPS, as well as the MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety Reagen Allen, along with the National Prosecuting Authority.