Strand shootings: School transport driver injured amid taxi rivalry

A 35-year-old woman transporting schoolchildren was shot in the face and chest during an ambush on Onverwacht Road in Strand on Tuesday.

Witnesses reported that the incident occurred while young children were in the vehicle.

This shooting is part of a violent morning in the area, with three people injured and two taxi drivers killed in separate incidents in Strand and Macassar, which police believe are unrelated.

The shootings follow two attacks on Monday, where three people were killed and six others wounded in Khayelitsha and Philippi in what is suspected to be taxi rival shootings.

Community members described being startled by the sudden gunfire on Tuesday.

“We didn’t see who shot at the taxi, but when we went outside to look, we saw the woman and the children were visibly shocked. A car came to take the victim to the hospital,” one resident said.

Minutes later, another woman rushed to the scene in a panic, fearing her neighbour’s child might have been among the victims.

“I was worried that she was also injured, but I received a call that she made it to school. The shooters didn’t even care that there were small children inside the taxi. The driver is not involved in the taxi industry; she just runs school transport,” she said.

Police spokesperson, Joseph Swartbooi, said officers were called to the scene and found the wounded woman still sitting in her Toyota Quantum.

“According to our information, Lwandle police officers responded to the complaint of a shooting incident in progress. They left the office and drove to Onverwacht Street, where they found the Toyota Quantum. Upon further inspection, they found a female aged 35 who was still sitting inside the vehicle. She was disoriented, owing to the gunshot wounds that she sustained. She was then transported to the nearby hospital. The suspects fled the scene. We have registered an attempted murder case.”

The second shooting unfolded just a few hours earlier in Macassar, where two taxi drivers from the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) were gunned down at a pick-up point on Mandela Drive.

Police spokesperson, Malcolm Pojie, confirmed the details.

“Provincial Detectives from the Serious and Violent Crimes Taxi Unit are probing the circumstances surrounding a shooting incident which claimed the lives of two men and left two bystanders injured in the early hours of Tuesday at the Macassar Heights taxi pick-up point,” he said.

Pojie said preliminary findings indicated that the shooters deliberately targeted the drivers.

“Preliminary information reveals that unknown armed men approached the taxi pick-up point, opened fire, and fatally shot and killed two males. Two bystanders were caught in the crossfire and sustained gunshot wounds to the body. They were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.”

It is unclear what the conflict between Cata and Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) is about, but over the past five days, nine drivers have been killed and six injured.

Cata spokesperson Nkululeko Sityebi has called for calm as they find solutions.

Anyone with information which could lead to the arrest of the suspects is requested to contact Detective Captain Lukhunyo Magadla on 082 411 3245 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or through the MySAPS mobile application anonymously. All information will be dealt with confidentially.

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Cape Argus